A Dallas police officer who was fired, then reinstated this year, was arrested Wednesday on a misdemeanor public intoxication charge.
Senior Cpl. Carlos Almeida, 39, was arrested by Carrollton police while he was off duty, Dallas police spokespeople announced. He has been arrested in the past on suspicion of family assault, which was dropped.
Carrollton police did not immediately provide information about the latest charge. Robert Rogers, Almeida’s attorney, said he “should never have been arrested.”
“He is not guilty and fully expects to be vindicated through the legal process,” Rogers said.
He is the second Dallas police officer arrested in the past week.
Almeida was arrested on a family strangulation charge in August 2021 in Anna, a city about 10 miles north of McKinney. Officers found evidence, spoke with multiple people involved, and then arrested Almeida, Anna police spokespeople said at the time.
Former Dallas police Chief Eddie García fired Almeida in connection with that allegation in March 2022, according to records obtained by The Dallas Morning News. The department found he violated two policies: escalating or participating in a disturbance and engaging in adverse conduct.
Related:DPD sergeant lied during traffic stop about the number of drinks he had, records show
Rogers, his attorney, said a Collin County grand jury declined to bring charges against Almeida in that criminal case in May 2023. Almeida appealed García’s firing, and an administrative law judge found he didn’t violate policy.
He was reinstated in January with partial backpay, Rogers said.
Rachel Woolf
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Staff Photographer
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Almeida, who joined the department in 2012, is assigned to the Facilities Management Unit. He previously served as a Dallas police spokesperson and with the Northeast Patrol Division.
He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Iraq. He said in 2015 that he joined the Dallas police because he felt “a higher sense of purpose.” “I feel like I’m a warrior,” he told The News at the time. “I was made to do this kind of stuff.”
He is on paid administrative leave as he is investigated.
