DALLAS (AP) – A Dallas police officer was arrested Thursday on two counts of capital murder after a man told investigators that he kidnapped and killed two people on police instructions in 2017, officials said.
Bryan Riser, a 13-year-old veteran in the force, was arrested Thursday morning and taken to Dallas County Jail for processing, according to a police department statement. His lawyer could not be immediately identified.
Riser was arrested for the unrelated murders of Liza Saenz, 31, and Albert Douglas, 61, after a man came forward in August 2019 and told police that he kidnapped and killed them under Riser’s direction, Chief of Police Eddie said. Garcia during a press conference. He said the investigators did not know the reasons for the deaths, but that they were not related to Riser’s police work.
“We received information through a witness who implicated Riser in both murders,” said Garcia.
Saenz’s body was removed from the Trinity River on March 10, 2017, with several gunshot wounds, the chief said. Douglas was reported missing that year and his body was not found.
The police did not immediately respond to an e-mail asking if the person who implicated Riser in the deaths was charged.
Riser joined the department in 2008 and worked as a patrolman before his arrest. Garcia acknowledged that Riser was patrolling Dallas while being investigated for murder.
Riser has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation, police said.
“We are going to streamline our process so that this individual is no longer with the department,” said Garcia.
“We will not allow anyone to stain this badge,” said the chief, noting that the FBI was assisting in the investigation.
Riser had not been fined in prison until early Thursday afternoon, said a spokesman for the sheriff.
A spokeswoman for the Dallas County Prosecutor’s Office said her office had no information about the case.