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Mar 12, 2008 9:52 pm US/Central
Dallas County D.A. Under Fire for Crashing Car
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
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Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins.
The Dallas County Commissioners Court has some tough questions for District Attorney Craig Watkins. The commissioners want to know why Watkins was involved in two accidents involving a county vehicle, which some say was never authorized.
This past October, D.A. Watkins got into an accident in front of the Hyatt Regency in Dallas. Watkins says it was not his fault and there was no damage to either vehicle. A month later, Watkins slammed his car into his garage causing $1,200 in damage. In both accidents, Watkins was driving a vehicle owned by Dallas County. He says he needed a county car, because his personal car was being repaired for yet another accident.
"I felt it would be easier, than dealing with the insurance company at that time, to use a county car," Watkins said. "I always intended to reimburse the county."
Watkins says he used the county car for only two months, but the Dallas County Commissioners say the court was unaware.
"Nobody knew he was using a county vehicle except for the D.A.'s office," Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield told CBS 11 News. "The auditor didn't know. Nobody from Commissioners Court knew. Otherwise we would have said 'wait a minute, you can't do that'."
According to Dallas County, Watkins gets $650 a month to cover work-related expenses for his personal car. That per diem therefore excludes him from using a county vehicle.
"I don't want people misusing county property and getting paid twice for something that the tax payers have already paid for," Mayfield said.
While Watkins says he gladly reimbursed the county $1,200 for using the car, Commissioner Mayfield has a different opinion. "I believe, he wrote the check after we started making inquiries into why he was driving a county vehicle."
The Commissioners Court also wants to know why Watkins violated county policy, which states that anyone involved in an accident in a county vehicle must immediately contact the sheriff's department. In both cases, Watkins failed to do so.
The district attorney says the claims are unwarranted. "What they're trying to do is trying to shine a disparaging light on this office, when they can't," Watkins claimed. "Obviously, this issue for us is a minor issue.
People have accidents all the time."
But Mayfield says those accidents cost the taxpayers money because they end up paying for the repairs.
Watkins says the allegations aren't about money and that Mayfield has a political ax to grind. "Stop being a political hack and do your responsibilities," he said, referring to Mayfield.
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price told CBS 11 News that he is satisfied with Watkins' explanation and agrees that since the D.A. reimbursed the county, the issue is dead.
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