FORT WORTH — An unmarked police vehicle driven by an off-duty Fort Worth officer was involved in a fatal crash early Friday morning.
In a statement, police said the officer, identified as Jesus Cisneros, may have been drinking before the crash.
Police said Cisneros' unmarked Toyota Highlander was westbound in the 3800 block of Columbus Trail at 2:30 a.m. when a woman driving a Chrysler PT Cruiser pulled out in front of him.
The vehicles collided; the 27-year-old woman — identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office as Sonia Baker of Fort Worth — was dead at the scene.
Officer Cisneros, 37, was reported in serious condition at John Peter Smith Hospital. The police statement said "it was determined that alcohol may have been involved on the part of the off-duty officer."
"This is a tragic incident and a very, very serious matter," said police Chief of Staff Lt. Paul Henderson in a written statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families."
Police said if test results reveal alcohol present in Cisneros' blood, he will be placed on restricted duty pending an internal investigation.
If the blood alcohol level measures 0.08 or above, the officer will face DWI and possible intoxication manslaughter charges.
"I am outraged. outraged," said Stella Lopez, Baker's mother. "Right now my number one concern is to get my daughter buried."
Baker, who worked as a dialysis technician, was going to get her little boys food before she had to go to work at 4 a.m. After her husband, Mario Baker, became concerned when his wife didn't return, he went out looking for her.
"Just on instinct I put some clothes on," he said. "My boys and I drove down there and there was her car."
The family says police wouldn't give them any information and told them to leave the scene.
"I feel the way they treated us was bad from the get go," Baker said.
They said they are now left to wonder if police withheld information because one of their own was involved and possibly drunk.
"This is what a Fort Worth officer does?" Lopez said. "Someone who is supposed to protect us? This is what he did? It's ridiculous. I don't understand."
Cisneros is an nine-year veteran of the Fort Worth Police Department.
