Former Haskell Officer Found Guilty of Planting Drugs as Evidence
By: Jessica Reyes
Updated: December 19, 2011
A former Haskell police officer was found guilty after pleading no contest to fabrication of physical evidence charges.
Bill Glass resigned from the Haskell Police Department in March of 2010, saying allegations he'd planted methamphetamine in a car during a traffic stop were "baseless." When the drugs were sent off for testing, a chemist at the lab traced them back to the officer.
The Texas Rangers investigated the charges, and Glass was found guilty last Thursday. It all started during a routine traffic stop on December 27, 2009.
"The facts of the case were an officer planted a controlled substance on an individual inside of his car," said special prosecutor Joe Boaz.
The drugs were sent off to a laboratory, where a chemist traced them back to Glass.
"The first thing he noticed were his initials. He knew he had examined it previously because there was a number on it, identifying it, and his own initials were on there that he had placed there himself," Boaz said.
It turned out the chemist had examined that exact rock of methamphetamine from an arrest Glass made back in 2002. It was tagged and sent back to the Haskell Police Department, where it stayed until Glass planted it as evidence in 2009.
"This is very rare, I would say. First time I've ever seen it," Boaz said.
Boaz said if the chemist hadn't picked up on the tag, Glass likely would have gotten away with it.
"It would have probably gone undetected. No one would have ever known about it," he said.
Glass was sentenced to seven years of probation and fined $2,000.
Bill Glass resigned from the Haskell Police Department in March of 2010, saying allegations he'd planted methamphetamine in a car during a traffic stop were "baseless." When the drugs were sent off for testing, a chemist at the lab traced them back to the officer.
The Texas Rangers investigated the charges, and Glass was found guilty last Thursday. It all started during a routine traffic stop on December 27, 2009.
"The facts of the case were an officer planted a controlled substance on an individual inside of his car," said special prosecutor Joe Boaz.
The drugs were sent off to a laboratory, where a chemist traced them back to Glass.
"The first thing he noticed were his initials. He knew he had examined it previously because there was a number on it, identifying it, and his own initials were on there that he had placed there himself," Boaz said.
It turned out the chemist had examined that exact rock of methamphetamine from an arrest Glass made back in 2002. It was tagged and sent back to the Haskell Police Department, where it stayed until Glass planted it as evidence in 2009.
"This is very rare, I would say. First time I've ever seen it," Boaz said.
Boaz said if the chemist hadn't picked up on the tag, Glass likely would have gotten away with it.
"It would have probably gone undetected. No one would have ever known about it," he said.
Glass was sentenced to seven years of probation and fined $2,000.
