RGC city secretary facing charges, placed on unpaid administrative leave
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RIO GRANDE CITY – The city secretary for Rio Grande City was arrested Friday morning. She's accused of planting a recording device in the office of another city employee.
Lyzette Peña, 32, was arrested and charged with unlawful interception use or disclosure of wire, oral or electronic communications.
According to court documents, the incident happened September 6, 2019. That's when Peña was observed going into the office of the Human Resources Director Valerie Brown. Later that morning, Brown discovered a small device under her desk and atop her computer tower that she suspected was an audio recorder.
Special Crimes Unit investigators confirmed it was an audio recorder. They listened to the recording it had already captured. A door closing, the sounds of Brown entering her office, and ensuing chatter were heard in the audio. Investigators then synced the audio with video surveillance of the building and were able to place the city secretary entering the office and leaving the device inside.
When interviewed, Peña initially denied knowing about the device but said she was privy to information related to an investigation into Brown. Later, she admitted to going into the office to retrieve an employee file. She explained she was concerned with letting other employees see her going into the office and notifying Brown she had been there. Investigators questioned the connection to the alleged investigation into Brown and the recording device. Peña said, "they wanted to know how easy it was to get information from Valerie." The court documents do not affirm whether an investigation into Brown existed or who was leading that investigation.
Investigators executed a search warrant to take Pena's work computer. They found the vendor identification number for the recording device matched.
Peña was arrested Friday and released after being issued a $10,000.00 PR bond by Judge Jesus “Chuy” Alvarez.
On Friday, Rio Grande City Spokesperson Ashly Custer announced Peña was placed on unpaid administrative leave.
Mayor Joel Villarreal posted his reaction on the city's Facebook page.
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