Paper: Houston Chronicle

Date: Sun 08/03/2008

Section: B Page: 3 Edition: 3 STAR R.O.

2 officers charged after gun incident

Both pulled out firearms at party, authorities say

By ANITA HASSAN

Staff

Two local law enforcement officers were indicted last week on charges stemming from an incident involving firearms that occurred at a party at one of their homes, authorities said Saturday.

Metro Police officer Michael Rocha, 25, was charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly threatened a person with a weapon during a party at his home on April 13, authorities said.

Harris County Precinct 6 Reserve Deputy Enrique Torres, 24, who also is a former Metro employee, was charged with discharging his duty weapon, a misdemeanor, at the same party, authorities said.

Rocha, who has been a patrol officer for Metro for two years, was discharged about six weeks ago after an administrative investigation into the incident took place, said Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert.

Rocha does not have a previous record of misconduct with the department, Lambert added.

"We have very high expectations and standards for our employees," Lambert said.

Torres was fired by Metro Police after he was involved in an incident for which the details are unknown about a year ago, Lambert said.

Harris County Precinct 6 spokesman Danny Perez said Torres has been with the constable's office since March and was released from duty following the indictment this week.

"Anytime this happens with an officer it's disappointing because it's a reflection on our department, " Perez said.

Copyright notice: All materials in this archive are copyrighted by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P., or its news and feature syndicates and wire services. No materials may be directly or indirectly published, posted to Internet and intranet distribution channels, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use.