Ex-deputy relinquishes state certification; other may lose his

A former Pima County sheriff’s deputy has surrendered his state certification to work in law enforcement, and another is at risk of having his taken, officials said.

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board accepted an agreement with Jesus Davila on Wednesday, allowing him to relinquish his certification, spokeswoman Sandy Sierra wrote in an email.

In August 2013, Davila was shot in the leg during an on-duty confrontation with a suspect. He received medical treatment for a year until his claim was closed, AZPOST documents show.

After the claim was closed, Davila continued to receive massage therapy for pain while he was on duty, for roughly a year. He misled supervisors and told them his claim was still open, receiving about 230 hours of massages while on duty, documents show.

Davila also wrote a memo to his lieutenant, saying his case was open and he was being treated by a doctor who was paid by “workman’s comp,” the document shows.

Davila later admitted his statements about the open claim had been false. He resigned from the department last November.

In a second case, the board voted to initiate proceedings against former sheriff’s Sgt. Ramon De La Torre, Sierra said.

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In December 2013, De La Torre was hunting with his father in his free time when he shot what he believed was a whitetail deer, AZPOST documents show.

Once he got a closer look at the deer, he realized it was a mule deer. De La Torre had a hunting license for whitetail deer but not for mule deer.

De La Torre called the Arizona Department of Game and Fish, telling the officer that his 83-year-old father may have shot a deer and didn’t have the proper hunting tags, according to AZPOST documents.

When he interviewed with a wildlife officer, De La Torre said his father shot the deer, and he decided to “turn his dad in because he was raised to try to do the right thing,” according to the documents.

During interviews, De La Torre and his father gave conflicting stories, and his father later admitted that he was not the one who shot the deer. Only when confronted with a written statement by his father did De La Torre confirm he shot the deer and asked his father to take the blame, the documents show.

Three days after the incident, De La Torre retired.

His case will be heard before the board in the next several months.