Charge dismissed against sheriff's nephew

LEG TO A WRONG WAY DRIVER NEAR SANTA ROSA. HE TELLS US HE'S FRUSTRATED -- WONDERING WHY HE ...  More »

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  « Less