Charge dismissed against sheriff’s nephew

LEG TO A WRONG WAY DRIVER NEAR SANTA ROSA HE TELLS US HE S FRUSTRATED — WONDERING WHY HE CAN T GET ANY JUSTICE AFTER THE WRONG WAY DRIVER WAS LET OFF THE HOOK WE INVESTIGATED — AND LEARNED THE DRIVER IS THE NEPHEW OF THE LOCAL SHERIFF — WE ALSO QUICKLY LEARNED THE SHERIFF WILL DO ALMOST ANYTHING NOT TO TALK INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER JEREMY JOJOLA HAS BEEN DRIVING BACK AND FORTH TO SANTA ROSA TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY — JEREMY YOU CAUSE A CRASH YOU GET CITED IN THIS CASE A MAN WAS DISFIGURED FOR LIFE THE DRIVER RESPONSIBLE IS RELATED TO THE SHERIFF — BUT HIS TICKET WAS DISMISSED WE ASKED WHY — GOT STONEWALLED — THEN FOUND THE SHERIFF HIDING FROM OUR CAMERA AND OUR QUESTIONS NATHAN GOLD WAS A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY HE WAS IN IRAQ FOR THE START OF THE WAR — A WORLD AWAY FROM HIS HOMETOWN OF SANTA ROSA-NEW MEXICO we went from kuwait all the way up to Falluja so it took like ten months to make it up that far FOR HIS HEROISM DURING AN AMBUSH — HE WAS AWARDED THE BRONZE STAR WITH A V FOR VALOR yeah it was pretty intense AFTER A SECOND TOUR GOLD CAME BACK HOME HIS FUTURE WIDE OPEN UNTIL A CRASH LAST SUMMER JUST SOUTH OF SANTA ROSA yeah it happened real fast it was as I was coming towards him he just jumped right in front of me A BLUE PICKUP ACCORDING TO A REPORT SWERVED ACROSS THE CENTER LINE GOLD WAS ON HIS NEW MOTORCYCLE and a vehicle swerved out of his lane and hit me pretty much head on nathan gold was violently thrown from his motorcycle and landed right here on the side of the road in the weeds His leg mangled unconscious At that moment his life changed forever ONE YEAR LATER THIS IS GOLD S LIFE I still freak out like if I see myself in the mirror without the leg and stuff like when you go into a convenience store where you have the monitor where you could see yourself and I see myself crutching without the leg I m just like oh it s sad you know THESE DAYS GOLD SAYS HIS DEPRESSION IS OFTEN MORE OF AN OBSTACLE THAN HIS CRUTCHES OR HIS PROSTHETIC LEG just the whole like thing a year in iraq another year in iraq and now almost a year just trying to recuperate from this accident It s like I m losing out on three years of my life you know THE DRIVER OF THE PICKUP TRUCK — MARTY MADRID — CLAIMS HIS SON WAS CHOKING — WHICH DISTRACTED HIM — CAUSING HIM TO SWERVE MADRID WAS CITED FOR FAILING TO MAINTAIN A LANE BUT RECORDS SHOW MADRID S 60-DOLLAR CITATION WAS DISMISSED BECAUSE GUADALUPE COUNTY DEPUTY DAVID SALAZAR FAILED TO SHOW UP TO COURT WE TRIED REACHING DEPUTY SALAZAR SEVERAL TIMES BUT GOT NO RESPONSE SO WE DECIDED TO ASK HIS BOSS — SHERIFF ROBERT CHAVEZ — ABOUT IT AFTER NOT GETTING ANY RESPONSE FROM SHERIFF CHAVEZ EITHER WE LEARNED SOMETHING INTERESTING THE DRIVER OF THE TRUCK MARTY MADRID IS THE SHERIFF S NEPHEW SO WE DROVE TO SANTA ROSA LOOKING FOR AN EXPLANATION FROM THE SHERIFF AS TO WHY HIS DEPUTY DID NOT SHOW UP FOR COURT my name is jeremy jojola with channel four I m looking for sheriff chavez is he around he s not in today he s at a summer conference in Las Cruces WE RETURNED TO SANTA ROSA AGAIN hi is Sheriff robert chavez in today he s not here he s not here again uh AND AGAIN EVEN STOPPING BY HIS HOME knock on door BUT THE SHERIFF WAS NEVER AROUND jojola hi is Robert Chavez here jojola the sheriff is not here again uh FINALLY AFTER SIX TRIPS TO SANTA ROSA AND 14-HUNDRED MILES WE KNOCKED ON THE BACK OFFICE DOOR jojola hi is sheriff chavez here no he s not he s not back here uh where s he at AND MADE OUR OWN WAY INTO THE BUILDING WHERE WE FOUND THE SHERIFF chavez I have no comment can we talk to you about the nathan gold crash i ve been trying to reach you for a long time can we talk to you about that crash sheriff THE SHERIFF JUMPED INTO ANOTHER ROOM AND NEVER CAME OUT FROM BEHIND THE DOOR MARTY MADRID WOULDN T COMMENT EITHER AS MADRID S TRUCK SITS IN HIS DRIVEWAY — ALL FIXED UP — GOLD SAYS HIS LIFE IS STILL BROKEN it s like it never happened for him but I m still living this whole life trying to get everything together there was no justice done in that town and I m not going to live in a town like that I love Santa Rosa it s like a slap in my face you know GOLD HAS MOVED HERE TO ALBUQUERQUE HE HOPES TO GET RID OF HIS CRUTCHES BY THE END OF THE YEAR HE WANTS TO GO TO SCHOOL TO BECOME AN E-M-T FOR NOW HE HAS AN ATTORNEY AND MAY FILE A LAWSUIT DURING THE COURSE OF THIS INVESTIGATION — WE DISCOVERED DEPUTY SALAZAR — THE DEPUTY WHO WROTE THE TICKET AND DIDN T SHOW UP FOR COURT — ISN T EVEN A STATE CERTIFIED OFFICER ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY — SALAZAR NEEDED TO HAVE GRADUATED FROM A STATE CERTIFIED ACADEMY BY NOW — BUT HASN T WE TRIED TO ASK SHERIFF CHAVEZ WHY DEPUTY SALAZAR STILL HAS A BADGE AND A GUN — BUT THE SHERIFF WOULDN T COMMENT