Relative: Cop caught in bribery sting didn't need money

More on Alfred Alaniz, the HPD officer caught in an undercover bribery sting last week: His brother in law doesn't believe that Alaniz actually took the bribe because he says Alaniz didn't need the money, and on the legal side, no one seems to be able to find the money in question.

Alaniz, remember, allegedly took $200 from an undercover cop Friday during a traffic stop on the South Loop. The undercover officer, A. Moreira, was deliberately speeding and pretended to have no driver's license and no insurance. According to court testimony, Moreira told Alaniz he didn't want to go to jail and showed him an envelope filled with cash; Alaniz then reportedly told Moreira to leave the money in the back seat of his patrol car and let Moreira go without a citation. He was arrested about an hour later. But his in-law, John Gomez, said the story doesn't hold water because Alaniz — who racked up more than $200,000 in overtime pay in the last couple of years — wouldn't need to take a $200 bribe. "I don't see why anybody making that much money would need to take a bribe," Gomez told the Chronicle. We can't argue with that logic, but it might not have been a matter of need, right?

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the case say they're missing a bit of evidence, KTRK reports: They can't find the $200 that Alaniz allegedly took. An investigation has been launched in hopes of finding the money, but even without it, prosecutors told Channel 13 they have enough evidence to continue with their case.