It was our questions that prompted the Houston Police Department to launch an Internal Affairs investigation into how the accident was handled.
The officer who crashed into the bus, HPD Sergeant Ruben Trejo, was fired on August 19. Now the department has turned its attention to the officers who responded to that crash.
One assistant chief and six police officers have been disciplined in connection with the patrol sergeant's crash into a school bus back in April. Eyewitness News first reported that HPD Captain Robert Manzo said that Sgt. Trejo was not under the influence when he hit that school bus while driving to work in his personal vehicle.
Capt. Manzo was suspended one day without pay. Lieutenant Andrew King was also suspended one day without pay. And Asst. Chief Dan Perales was given a written reprimand.
On April 13, the bus driver, Teresa Argueta, was cited for failure to yield, but she maintained her eyes did not deceive her.
"He smelled drunk. He got beer and wine open in the car," Argueta told Eyewitness News the day of the accident.
However, it was not until Eyewitness News started asking questions that Sgt. Trejo was charged with DWI. He reportedly had a blood alcohol level of .176 -- that's more than twice the legal limit.
Three other HPD officers have been disciplined as well -- given supervisory interventions or counseling for their actions. The police department is not releasing exactly what violations the officers committed.
Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland said last week he fired Sgt. Trejo.
Argueta told us last week that her failure to yield ticket was dismissed.
