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Drugs found in district clerk's home

December 08,2006

Jeremy Roebuck

Monitor Staff Writer

 

McALLEN — With less than a month left in his term, Hidalgo County District Clerk Omar Guerrero can’t seem to keep his name out of the headlines.

Authorities seized a "sizeable amount" of marijuana and cocaine from the elected official’s North McAllen home Thursday, one day after Mission police issued a warrant for his arrest on sexual assault charges.

While Guerrero still remains at large, his latest legal problems may further taint the short political career of a man once considered a rising star in Hidalgo County government.

Mission police came to Guerrero’s home just before 3 p.m. Thursday as part of a continuing investigation into the district clerk’s whereabouts, Sgt. Martin Garza said.

Guerrero is currently wanted in connection with a series of alleged sexual assaults on a teenager in the past two or three months.

As officers pulled up to the home near the intersection of North Second Street and Dove Avenue, they noticed the back gate was open and a rear window had been broken, Garza said.

"We called the McAllen police department and officers entered the home," he said. "We saw a substantial amount of (drugs) out in plain view."

The home was still filled with furniture and clothing, but many of the rooms appeared to have been recently ransacked, Garza said.

Guerrero’s wife, Karina, arrived at the home while officers continued their work inside. As Garza stood in front of the doorway, she demanded the names of the officers inside and challenged their right to enter the home without a warrant.

She declined to answer questions but described the police activity as a "bunch of bull."

Garza later said that officers did not search the home and only entered after noticing signs of a forced entry. Because the drugs had been left out in plain view, authorities could legally take them, he said.

As McAllen police catalogued their findings inside, Karina Guerrero stood watch over the home while calling her lawyer. She eventually left the scene just before 4 p.m.

It was unclear Thursday whether Omar or Karina Guerrero had recently lived at the residence. An eviction notice addressed to the couple remained taped to the door as investigators continued their work.

The letter, dated Dec. 7, notified the Guerreros that Lone Star National Bank now owned the property and that they had until Dec. 17 to vacate.

But neighbors reported seeing Guerrero at the residence as recently as last week. One said she saw someone enter the home Wednesday night.

Mission police have previously searched for Guerrero at his office and a Mission home.

Meanwhile, Guerrero’s lawyer announced Thursday that the district clerk could turn himself in as early as today. Attorney Al Alvarez told reporters he had spoken with Guerrero’s family and they were working on arrangements for his surrender.

"(Friday) will be a good target if we can do it early enough," Alvarez said. "But we may have to wait until Monday."

Alvarez said that Guerrero was out of town, but he did not know exactly where. He added that he had not spoken directly with his client.

As of late Thursday, Mission police had not heard of any plan for Guerrero to surrender to police, Garza said.

PAST PROBLEMS

Thursday’s developments come one year to the day after a Monitor article in which Guerrero apologized to his constituents for his first high-profile run in with police.

McAllen police arrested the district clerk in November 2005 after he came to where they had pulled over a friend of his. Police said he was disoriented and his speech was slurred. They later found 0.1 grams of marijuana in a car registered to his father.

Guerrero refused a blood test after his arrest, citing his belief in an ancient African religion.

In March 2006, First National Bank sued Guerrero for defaulting on a $17,000 bank loan. He has since claimed the lawsuit was politically motivated.

Guerrero found himself in court once again in September on charges that he had assaulted and threatened to kill his wife. The incident allegedly occurred in the home police searched Thursday.

And since Guerrero took office in 2003, several employees have lodged complaints against him, alleging frequent absenteeism and arbitrary termination.

Guerrero lost a re-election bid to challenger Laura Hinojosa in March and is scheduled to leave office Dec. 31.