By Khalida Sarwari
A San Jose police officer who was arrested in Gilroy on Wednesday on suspicion of having sexual contact with two underage teen boys has been released on $100,000 bail.
Gilroy police officers arrested Patrick D’Arrigo, 44, of Gilroy, at the San Jose Police Department’s internal affairs office on a $100,000 arrest warrant.
He was arrested while on duty and booked into Santa Clara County Jail on charges of unlawful sexual contact with minors.
The arrest followed an investigation by Gilroy police into allegations of inappropriate contact with the victims, who are 15 and 17 years old, according to Gilroy police. Both are residents of Gilroy, according to Gilroy police Sgt. Chad Gallacinao.
The crimes allegedly occurred at D’Arrigo’s home on Adler Street in Gilroy, police said.
D’Arrigo has been an officer for the San Jose Police Department since 1994, but has never worked in any specialized units, San Jose police spokesman Jose Garcia said.
He was one of two officers who was accused of covering up a DUI crash in March 2008, for which he was placed on administrative leave and then later fired in January 2010. A grand jury declined to indict him, and he was reinstated in December after an arbitrator reversed then-Chief Rob Davis’ decision to fire him.
Garcia said San Jose police were aware of the Gilroy police investigation and facilitated D’Arrigo’s arrest.
“When an officer is under investigation for wrongdoing, it’s very disheartening and it’s a sad day for not only the police but also for the community,” Garcia said. “We’ll be the first to say that we’d like to police ourselves and take a strict stance against officers violating that trust and any criminal laws.”
D’Arrigo has also worked as a campus officer at Leland High School, according to Sherri Greer, a secretary at the San Jose Unified School District Police Department.
Investigators believe there may be additional victims, and are asking anyone with information on the case to call the Gilroy Police Department at (408) 846-0350 or the San Jose internal affairs unit at (408) 277-4094.
