Six Dallas police officers have been disciplined over their handling of a fatal crash that involved former Dallas Police Association president Jaime Castro, with investigators finding 14 violations in total.
One sergeant has been suspended for eight days, while two other officers received shorter suspensions. A second sergeant and two officers were issued written reprimands.
The officers may appeal the disciplinary decisions.
Dallas police discipline follows fatal Northwest Highway crash
The action comes more than 18 months after 25-year-old Atianna Washington was killed on 15 March 2025 while attempting to cross West Northwest Highway in north-west Dallas.
Castro, then a senior corporal with the Dallas Police Department, was recorded at the scene speaking with officers and shaking hands. He was listed in the initial police report as a passenger in the vehicle involved.
He was placed on administrative leave in November 2025 after questions were raised about the investigation. Castro announced his retirement from the department in January 2026 and stepped down as police union president.
In March, Castro pleaded guilty to making a false statement to police. Court records said he falsely claimed that his girlfriend, Angela Valles, had been driving and had not consumed alcohol before the crash.
As part of the plea agreement, Castro agreed to surrender his peace officer licence, complete driving-while-intoxicated classes, pay a fine and serve a year of deferred probation. Valles also pleaded guilty to making a false statement about being behind the wheel.
The Dallas County district attorney’s office said the original investigation appeared to have been incomplete and warned that it might never be possible to establish whether further criminal liability arose from the crash.
Washington’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Castro and Valles, alleging that the police investigation was neither thorough nor impartial. Authorities have not publicly confirmed who was driving the car when Washington was struck.
Brandon Friedman, a member of the City of Dallas Community Police Oversight Board, said officers who had committed wrongdoing, as well as those who helped conceal it, should be held accountable.
“It reflects poorly on the City of Dallas when we have police officers who are given preferential treatment,” he said.
The Dallas Police Association said accountability was important but argued that discipline should be based on each officer’s individual conduct rather than their involvement in a high-profile case.
It said officers were entitled to due process and that it would continue to support them through the disciplinary and appeals process.
