Charge against former alderman dismissed

BAYOU VISTA — The district attorney’s office dismissed a misdemeanor deadly conduct charge against a former Bayou Vista alderman, a Galveston County Clerk’s Office official said Monday.

Christopher William Gimenez, 54, was arrested in April and accused of driving a car at Larry Jones, another former Bayou Vista alderman.

An official with the clerk’s office said Monday the case against Gimenez in Galveston County Court of Law No. 1 was dismissed with prejudice Jan. 24.

The clerk’s office, however, was unable to find Gimenez’s file containing the dismissal paperwork.

On Monday, Gimenez provided The Daily News a copy of the dismissal signed by Ted A. Weems, misdemeanor section chief for the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.

The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case against Gimenez, saying he was accused of driving a car at Jones while he rode his bicycle on Marlin Street on April 7.

Messages left for Weems and Criminal District Attorney Jack Roady, seeking the reason for the dismissal, weren’t returned.

Paperwork provided by Gimenez said the case was dismissed with prejudice in the “interest of justice.”

“The charges were baseless,” Gimenez said. “There was never an investigation by the sheriff’s office, never an attempt to investigate and there was no further investigation done.”

Gimenez said he knew the reason for the dismissal but couldn’t divulge it.

Gimenez was among three aldermen in 2008 to vote to lower city employee salaries on fears Hurricane Ike damage would greatly reduce property values and revenue. Ike made landfall Sept. 13, 2008, causing widespread flooding and damaging much of the Upper Texas Coast. Jones contested the salary matter in the following year’s election.

An uninvolved witness to the incident knew Jones, the sheriff’s office said in April.

The events that attempted to substantiate the charge could never have happened, Gimenez said.

“I think they did a lot of damage to my reputation both from a personal and professional standpoint without even an attempt to do a proper investigation,” Gimenez said.

A sheriff’s office spokesman said he needed time to look into questions about the investigation brought by The Daily News before commenting on the matter.