Reynaga
  • Reynaga
A Portland cop who has already been flagged once for alcohol abuse has been put on administrative leave, the police bureau confirmed today—after he was arrested in Tualatin on New Year's Eve, on suspicion of vandalizing a neighbor's car.

Homero Reynaga, a Portland cop for 15 years, was off-duty at the time. He was booked into the Clackamas County jail and charged with criminal mischief in the second degree. He was arrested a little after 9 pm, after neighbors called Tualatin cops and saw him near a neighbor's car.

The bureau's announcement was apparently prompted by a report in the Oregonian. Neither the bureau nor the O mention explicitly whether Reynaga was drunk during the incident on New Year's Eve. Reynaga, however, has had one prior public bout with alcohol abuse. He was involved in a 2011 crash in Salem and convicted the next year of driving under the influence. At the time, according to news reports, his blood alcohol content measured three times the legal limit, or .24 percent.

The O says Reynaga, 41, went through treatment and is still under probation for that conviction, adding some potential complications if Reynaga's convicted on the new mischief charge. The probation terms say he's not allowed to drink and that he's not allowed, unsurprisingly, to break the law.

Reynaga's police powers have been suspended while he's under investigation. The police bureau says it won't comment beyond its statement.