An off duty patrol officer from the Chula Vista Police Department is scheduled to be arraigned today on gambling related charges.
Jesus Salazar, 30, was charged with a misdemeanor violation while playing a card game at Sycuan casino for allegedly using a technique called “capping,” a method of illegally adding more chips to a bet that had already been won.
Sycuan police made the arrest then transferred Salazar into the Sheriff’s Department custody and he was taken to jail. Salazar was booked into San Diego County Central Jail after 5 a.m. June 3 and posted $10,000 bail at 10:26 a.m.
During a press conference last Friday, Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano said the incident was unfortunate.
“We’re disturbed and disappointed by his arrest,” he said.
Prior to his arrest Friday, Salazar was under investigation for a DUI stemming from an April 9 arrest by Sycuan Tribal Police while driving onto the reservation.
Assistant Tribal Manager Adam Day, who works for the Sycuan tribe, said that Salazar has been a member of Club Sycuan since 2007.
Day said that when Sycuan authorities recognized Salazar from the DUI incident in April and approached him for gaming, he was extremely verbally uncooperative.
“He denied his identity and the previous incident,” he said. Salazar has been on the force nine years.
Bejarano said Salazar will be placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs unit investigation.
“We will not tolerate that type of criminal misconduct,” Bejarano said.
If found guilty, Salazar could face up to one year in county jail and pay up to a $10,000 fine, Bejarano said.
