DALLAS (AP) – A Dallas police officer was arrested Thursday on two charges of mastermind after a man told investigators he kidnapped and killed two people in 2017, authorities said.
Bryan Riser, a 13-year veteran of the force, was arrested Thursday morning and taken to Dallas County Jail for processing, according to a statement from the police department. An attorney for him could not be immediately identified.
Riser was arrested in the unrelated murders of Liza Saenz, 31, and Albert Douglas, 61, after a man came forward in August 2019 and told police he had abducted and killed them on Riser’s orders. said Eddie Garcia, police chief, during a news conference. He said investigators did not know the motives for the murder, but that it was not related to Riser’s police work.
“We received information from a witness who involved Riser in both murders,” Garcia said.
Saenz’s body was pulled from the Trinity River on March 10, 2017 with multiple bullet wounds, the principal said. Douglas was reported missing that year and his body was not found.
Police did not immediately respond to an email asking if the person who involved Riser in the murder was charged.
Riser joined the department in 2008 and worked as a patrol officer before his arrest. Garcia admitted that Riser patrolled Dallas while being investigated for murder.
Riser has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, police said.
“We are going to speed up our process so that this person is no longer with the department,” Garcia said.
“We will not allow anyone to slander this badge,” the chief said, noting that the FBI is assisting with the investigation.
A sheriff’s spokesman said Riser was not booked into jail early Thursday afternoon.
A Dallas County District Attorney’s spokeswoman said her office has no information on the case.