Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland relieved from duty a veteran HPD officer accused of groping a woman after arresting her and launched an investigation into the matter.

McClelland said Sgt. O.J. Latin was relieved of duty with pay after HPD became aware on Wednesday of serious allegations made against the officer by the woman, who told authorities the incident occurred in March.

"The investigation was initiated yesterday, so clearly we haven't had any time to gather any facts or evidence in that case," he said during a media availability session Thursday afternoon.

McClelland also announced that Angela Horton, an officer who punched a handcuffed robbery suspect in the face last month, has been terminated by the department.

Houston attorney Tyler Flood, who is representing the woman bringing the allegations against Latin, said the officer arrested her in early March for allegedly driving while intoxicated on Washington Avenue.

She said Latin pulled up her shirt and groped her while she was still handcuffed in the back of his patrol car. Another woman who was in the back seat was a witness, Flood said.

The other woman in the car doesn't live in the Houston area, but Flood said they were able to track her down.

"She told us everything, and it pretty much matched up with what my client said happened," Flood said.

The inventory sheet listing the items his client had with her at the time of the arrest also seemed to bolster her claim that something out of the ordinary happened in the HPD patrol car, Flood said.

"He wrote his name and cellphone number on the back of that and said, 'call,' " Flood said.

Flood said the officer sent text messages and photographs to the woman after the arrest.

"He made some comments to her like, 'I can help you with your case,' " Flood said.

7 complaints on file

He said his primary concern now is what the allegations against the officer mean for his client's original DWI case. He has been speaking with the Harris County District Attorney's Office but hasn't heard anything about a possible dismissal.

Bob Armbruster, staff attorney for Houston Police Officers' Union, said the organization has no comment on the incident at this time.

Along with an internal affairs investigation of the allegations, the department will look into any criminal misconduct, McClelland said.

An HPD database of internal affairs complaints shows that Latin has had seven complaints sustained against him since late 1994. The complaints include two accidents in police vehicles Latin caused, three instances of improper police procedure, one complaint of improper conduct and behavior, and an instance of losing police property.

NAACP told police

The department learned of the recent allegations against Latin after receiving information from the Houston chapter of the NAACP, where the woman went Wednesday to make the complaints, McClelland said.

"And I can clearly state, from everything that I've been told till this point, it was the first time that the Houston Police Department had knowledge of this allegation," he said. "So that's why we took swift and prompt action of relieving officer Latin of duty until we can conduct an investigation."

In July, McClelland relieved Horton of duty only a few days after learning she had punched the handcuffed robbery suspect. The incident occurred July 13 when a news camera crew captured Horton slugging the suspect. She was sworn in as an HPD officer in January 2007.

Chronicle reporter Jim Pinkerton contributed to this report.

mike.glenn@chron.com

anita.hassan@chron.com