Sansom Park PD failed to arrest DWI suspect months before he killed off-duty Euless officer in drunken crash

SANSOM PARK, Texas - Months before a drunk driver caused an accident in Lake Worth killing an off-duty police detective, that same driver was arrested by Sansom Park police for DWI. However, they botched that investigation.

Police records obtained by FOX 4 show the mistakes the Sansom Park Police Department made.

Dash camera footage obtained by FOX 4 shows Dylan Molina arrested on suspicion of DWI by Sansom Park Police Department on May 17, 2021. The next day, however, Molina was released for reasons not made public at the time.

 Seven months later, Molina drunkenly tried to run away from a crash he caused, which killed off-duty Euless Police Detective Alex Cervantes. Cervantes was driving his wife and two boys to buy Christmas decorations. 

Now, FOX 4 has obtained hundreds of documents that explain why Sansom Park PD chose to release Molina from his DWI arrest seven months before he killed Detective Cervantes.

FOX 4 took the documents to Dr. Alex del Carmen, associate dean of criminology at Tarleton State University. 

"This individual was allowed to leave the jail and do this again," he said. "What went wrong? A lot of things."

According to a Sansom Park police report, Molina failed a field sobriety test.

It says Molina then "consented to provide a blood specimen and was transported by [Officer Jon] Wright to the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Azle." 

Afterward, "[Officer] Wright completed all the forms and labels and secured them inside the blood kit. Wright transported Molina to the Sansom Park jail facility where he was booked for driving while intoxicated." 

That’s where the police report ends. But what happened to the blood sample? 

In an email, former Sansom Park Sgt. Sara Straten told Officer Wright that later that day another officer "located your blood evidence in the break room refrigerator."

"The evidence was actually placed in a refrigerator where everyone had access to. And that’s a big no-no because of the belief or the theory that somebody can tamper with the evidence, and therefore it will no longer be acceptable or admissible in a court of law," del Carmen said.

There were also issues with paperwork not getting filed on time.

"I will tell you that what seems to be happening here is there were many things that failed on that particular day," del Carmen said.

In an email, Sgt. Straten told former Chief Carolyn Gilmore that "[Detective Robert] Payne and I decided the arrest needed to be kicked."

The blood results were still sent to a lab. Molina’s results were .212, nearly three times the legal limit.

"Because of the lack of professionalism and because of the fact that this particular chain of custody was violated, you now have an individual that is free to roam around and do exactly what he was arrested for the day before," del Carmen said. "And ultimately that led to the death of Detective Alex Cervantes."

We’ll never know how Molina’s driving habits may have changed, either by his own will or court-mandated, if that initial DWI went through.

"This person would have faced circumstances that perhaps may have prevented the death of an innocent person," del Carmen said.

Instead on Nov. 27, 2021, Molina got drunk at a bar in Lake Worth. He was involved in a minor crash while leaving the parking lot. He sped away, ran a red light and T-boned the Cervantes family vehicle. 

After Cervantes’ death, Sansom Park police filed charges for the DWI they initially threw out. It was basically a moot point.

Molina was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing detective Alex Cervantes.

FOX 4 spoke with his widow, Priscilla Cervantes, after the sentencing.

"It’s not going to bring Alex back, But at least he’s locked behind bars, and he’s not able to hurt another family like he did ours," she said.

Del Carmen says there’s a lesson here for people in law enforcement.

"That things have to be done by the book and that officers have to be held accountable," he said. "For if they’re not, then we have tragedies like these where it was an officer himself that lost his life as a result of this negligence."

Former Sansom Park Police Chief Carolyn Gilmore was in charge at the time of the DWI. She has repeatedly declined to interview for this story.

The current chief of police, James Burchfield, turned down our request for an on-camera interview.

Instead, he sent FOX 4 a statement saying, "Since becoming chief of the Sansom Park Police Department in 2022, we have expanded our department personnel, including supervisory personnel. We have completely rewritten our police policy manual and we strive daily to serve the citizens."

The chief says Officer Wright left on his own will after the DWI was kicked for undisclosed reasons and began working for Lake Worth Police Department. However, he’ll soon be returning to Sansom Park as an officer.