EL PASO
An El Paso police officer arrested last week on a charge of aggravated sexual assault has been suspended from duty without pay, police officials said Tuesday.
Javier Alonzo, a member of he police force for 16 years, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a woman Feb. 24 at a home in El Paso.
He remained in the El Paso County Jail on Tuesday. His bond was set at $80,000.
Police officials said Tuesday that they had begun the process to fire Alonzo.
"Chief (Greg) Allen has instructed internal affairs to begin the termination process," said Officer Chris Mears, a department spokesman. "However, there are some rights and administrative issues that need to be resolved first. He will be on leave without pay until the administrative side is finished."
Alonzo's lawyer, Roger Montoya, is representing the officer on a separate charge of family violence and assault causing bodily injury. That case dates from Nov. 1.
"I want to remind the public that my client is entitled to the presumption of innocence," Montoya said.
In the case last week, Alonzo, 42, is accused of throwing a woman to the floor, threatening her life, handcuffing her and then sexually assaulting her.
Police did not identify the woman, and the El Paso Times does not publish the names of people who say they were victims of sexual assault. Police said the alleged assault occurred in a house in the 800 block of Sunset Park Drive.
Alonzo will have a pretrial hearing March 9 in connection with the November assault charge, court records show.
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