Free Murdered Innocents by Corey Mitchell Page B

girl, he grabbed some paper napkins, lit them on fire, and placed them on top of some cardboard boxes near two metal storage shelves.
    “I wanted to burn the place because I couldn’t recall what all we had touched.” As smoke filled the store, Briones scurried out the front door. He ran to the end of the building, stopped, and lit a cigarette. He then pulled out his crack pipe and smoked crack. He pulled out his vial of cocaine, dabbed it with his finger, and glazed his lips. He had no idea which way his buddy went. Briones headed over to a black neighborhood and scored more coke.
    A few days later, he tossed his gun, a black .22-caliber automatic, off the Congress Avenue bridge into Town Lake. He also mentioned that his buddy’s gun looked like a .38 automatic, but he was not sure.
    At the conclusion of Briones’s statement, Huckabay showed him several photographs of Hispanic males who matched the description of his buddy. After sorting through most of the photos, Briones picked out the picture of Abel Arredondo.
    Huckabay released Briones back into custody. When the man left the room, the detective slowly shook his head. Once again, they had been fed more bullshit.
    Abel Arredondo, Briones’s “buddy,” was sent to prison in the summer of 1991 for attempted burglary. While in prison, he was diagnosed with AIDS. He was eventually paroled, but not until January 1992. He was almost dead upon his release.
    Disgusted, Huckabay marched out of the room, where he encountered Sergeant Polanco.

CHAPTER 19
    Monday, March 23, 1992
Austin Police Department
Austin, Texas
     
    Several members of the yogurt shop task force were concerned about the Alex Briones confession. They were also concerned about the Shawn “Buddha” Smith false confession. There was one common denominator in each questionable situation: Hector Polanco.
    Polanco was removed from the task force completely. Many on the force believed he may have engaged in questionable tactics that led to the various false confessions. Austin chief of police Jim Everett stated that Polanco had been reassigned from homicide altogether to the Field Services Bureau and Patrol Department.
    According to the University of Texas student newspaper, the Daily Texan , Victor Polanco, Hector’s father, leveled charges of racism. He believed his son was removed from the task force because the higher-ups did not want a Mexican-American to head such a high-profile case.
    “He’s not a ‘yes boy,’” Victor Polanco said of his son. “That’s why they fired him.” Polanco’s father also spoke of an earlier incident when his son supported a fellow Hispanic officer, Rodrigo Herrera, in a contentious situation with the police department. Someone in the police force apparently accused Herrera of writing a memo that criticized his supervisor. Herrera hired a lawyer to disprove those claims and Polanco stood behind him. Victor Polanco believed that that situation, combined with his son’s skin color, led to his removal from the yogurt shop murders task force.
    The task force needed every top-quality individual it could get to help crack the continuing investigation. Polanco’s track record up to that time definitely placed him in that category. He joined the Austin police force in March 1976. He worked his way through the ranks for several years before he landed a coveted investigator position in the homicide division. He held that position for 3½ years before being promoted to senior sergeant.
    Polanco was considered one of the best investigators on the police force. He was also a highly decorated officer. He received well over forty commendations—many because of his ability to assist in homicides in which Hispanics were involved as suspects, victims, and/or witnesses. His ability to speak fluent Spanish made him a go-to guy in numerous cases.
    According to court documents, Polanco was also a strong supporter of minority causes within the police department. Polanco was not shy