Cop Loses Job for Beer Shakedown

(CN) – A south Texas city police officer who shook down a motorist for an ice chest full of beer during a traffic stop pleaded guilty to official oppression, The (McAllen) Monitor newspaper reported.      Gilberto Montezano, 30, was sentenced to 18 months probation and fined $500 in Hidalgo County District Court.     Edinburg police suspended him without pay, then fired him after the Texas Rangers investigated, Edinburg Police Chief Rolando Castaneda told The Monitor.     The investigation was opened after police learned that Montezano took the beer and ice chest – a model that resembled a pickup truck tool box – from motorist Miguel Guzman during a traffic stop.     This is not the first time Montezano has made news. In February 2010, he was involved in a chase in the wrong direction down a frontage road that ended with the suspect crashing into another vehicle, killing a family of three, the Monitor reported.     Montezano is the third Edinburg police officer who has been convicted of corruption in less than a year, according to the Monitor.

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