Sex assault trial set for ex-L.V. Fire Dept. engineer
A three-day trial has been scheduled for a man charged with sexually assaulting a family member, a girl police say was 16 at the time.
David Garcia, 46, of Las Vegas, is scheduled to go on trial beginning Aug. 5 in the Fourth Judicial District Court. Garcia was arrested in October 2018 and charged with criminal sexual penetration of a child, a second-degree felony.
According to an arrest affidavit filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court in October 2018, the girl told police she’d been asleep on a sofa when Garcia began rubbing her back. She told investigators she was scared and pretended to be asleep, but Garcia continued to rub her back and “tickle” her stomach. She said Garcia then moved his hand to her “private area” and sexually assaulted her.
Police say the girl told her mother what had happened and that the girl’s mother confronted Garcia. The girl’s mother told police Garcia said something like “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry.”
Garcia was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center on Oct. 4, 2018, and released later the same day after posting 10 percent of a $10,000 bond. Garcia has no prior criminal history in New Mexico.
At the time of his arrest, Garcia was an engineer with the Las Vegas Fire Department, but was placed on paid administrative leave following the Oct. 4 arrest.
Court records indicate Garcia is still employed with the City of Las Vegas, working at the water treatment plant. The Las Vegas Fire Department directed the Optic’s questions about Garcia’s employment to the city’s human resources department. Interim City Manager Ann M. Gallegos confirmed Garcia’s employment with the city, but did not provide specific details of his job duties.
At a February 2019 arraignment in the Fourth Judicial District Court, the court agreed to maintain the release conditions earlier imposed by the San Miguel Magistrate Court, leaving Garcia free on bond and imposing a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew unless a work-related task requires him to be out past the set time. He is still under a court order to not have contact with the alleged victim.
Garcia’s next scheduled court date is set for 9:45 a.m. on May 29 for a pretrial hearing in the Fourth District Court.
