Police officer charged with driving drunk

SAN BENITO - A San Benito police officer was arrested last week on a drunken driving charge while he was driving an unmarked San Benito police vehicle, Department of Public Safety spokesman Trooper Johnny Hernandez said Wednesday.

Hernandez said Armando Posada, a 40-year-old San Benito resident, was off duty when he was pulled over for speeding while travelling east on FM 510 near Bayview about 12:30 a.m. Friday.

"He refused a field sobriety test and he refused a breath test," Hernandez said. "But he was highly intoxicated."

The DPS spokesman said Posada did not identify himself as a police officer at the time of his arrest and was driving an unmarked police pickup.

Acting police chief George Gomez said officers are allowed to take unmarked police vehicles home with them.

Posada was jailed at the Los Fresnos Police department but was no longer held there or in the Cameron County jail late Wednesday.

Posada's arrest came a day before San Benito Police Capt. Clarence Arthur Ebarb Jr. was arrested on a family assault charge by Harlingen police.

Ebarb, a 58-year-old Harlingen resident, was arrested about 3:20 a.m. Saturday after a disturbance at the Palm Terrace Apartments, 1501 Sam Houston St., jail records show.

According to a Harlingen police news release, Ebarb's wife told police he had "forcefully grabbed her arms and repeatedly pushed and pulled her."

Ebarb has been placed on unpaid leave pending the outcome of his case.

San Benito Mayor Joe Hernandez said the two arrests threaten to mar the police department's image.

"It's surprising. It's a shocker," he said. "But we have to continue going forward. It hurts because, with one little incident, (people) label every (police officer) as a bad person. They don't look at all the good they do."