And That TX Agency Is Doing Some Investigating...

Here's a story from The Dallas Morning News:

Precinct 1 Constable Derick Evans (shown on far right in photo) uses Dowdy Ferry Auto Services to tow and store most of the vehicles impounded by his deputies.

During a visit to Dowdy Ferry's lot, Evans liked what he saw in an employee there, Margarita Trevino. So he hired her.

Since then, Trevino has apparently been working for both Evans and Milad "Chris" Nasrallah Sr., the owner of Dowdy Ferry, records show.

Dowdy Ferry is currently under investigation by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which regulates towing and vehicle storage operations.

Evans said he was impressed by Trevino and wanted a Spanish-speaking employee. "I told her you need to come to work for me," he said.

In October 2007, Trevino, 49, submitted her application. She was hired as a clerk in Evans' office in January 2008, according to Dallas County officials.

In her job application, Trevino wrote that she worked for Dowdy Ferry since June 2006 as an office manager with duties that included: "development and maintenance of auto impound records" and "daily data entry of auto inventory."

(Those are records that the state is likely poring over).

Prior to that, she worked for Dallas County Auto Salvage for about 10 years, most recently as a sales manager, the application said.

Both businesses are owned by Nasrallah.

Nasrallah didn't return a message left today at Dowdy Ferry. But he said in a court deposition that Trevino still worked for him as of January 2009, court records show.

She had prepared the paperwork for a Dowdy Ferry invoice that was evidence in a lawsuit, according to the deposition. The invoice was for storage and towing fees for vehicles that had been seized under a writ of attachment executed by Precinct 5 Constable Jaime Cortes' office. The vehicles had been stored at Dowdy Ferry, court records show.

When asked about Trevino's dual role, Evans said he thought she may be doing work for Dowdy Ferry in the evenings.