Two Fired Phoenix Officers Face Felony Charges After Alleged Unreported Traffic Stop Turned Violent
PHOENIX — Two fired Phoenix police officers have been arrested and charged with multiple felonies after an alleged unreported traffic stop that authorities say turned into a violent encounter with a man and woman.
Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano announced Saturday that former officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix were taken into custody and had been terminated from the department. "I'm here to share with you that former officers Felix and Vasquez have been arrested, and I fired them both," Giordano said at a news conference.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office charged Vasquez and Felix with aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, threatening and intimidating, causing criminal damage and tampering with evidence, according to Giordano. Both were booked into the Maricopa County Jail.
The charges stem from an incident on Aug. 5. The man and woman told Tempe police that they were pulled over in Phoenix by an SUV with lights and siren around 11:30 p.m., according to a police report obtained by ABC affiliate KNXV. They said the two officers got out of their vehicle and, without identifying themselves as police, immediately began punching them, restraining them and using a stun gun while they were still in their car.
At one point, one of the suspects pulled a handgun, counted to three and threatened to shoot the man if he did not get out of the car, the report said. The woman said she was handcuffed and pushed face-down to the ground.
The man managed to escape, got back in his car and drove off. His car broke down in Tempe, where he relayed the allegations to an officer responding to a disabled vehicle call, according to the report. The woman told police that after the man escaped, she was released with a warning: "We know where you live now."
The Tempe officer was so concerned that he initially suspected criminals were posing as police and reported the case to Phoenix for further investigation, according to KNXV.
Giordano said Vasquez and Felix were on duty at the time and worked out of the South Mountain Precinct. They were placed on administrative leave Aug. 13 as the investigation continued. The chief said the officers did not activate their body cameras, and investigators have found no security video of the incident. That means the accounts of the man and woman are likely to be central to the prosecution.
"Their actions severely undermine trust in law enforcement and violate the standards we expect from those who serve," Giordano said at Saturday's news conference. "There is no excuse for the conduct those two officers engaged in."
Giordano said investigators have uncovered additional information that he described as demonstrating "egregious criminal conduct" by the officers. He declined to release details of the victims' injuries or what they told investigators, saying a broader probe is underway to determine whether anyone else was involved and whether there are systemic concerns within the department.
A judge ordered Vasquez and Felix held on $100,000 bail each following a bond hearing Saturday. Prosecutor Tom Van Dorn of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office argued the former officers were a danger to the community and should be considered flight risks, telling the judge: "Your Honor, these offenses were committed by on-duty police officers in a fully marked Phoenix police Tahoe."
Information on their attorneys was not immediately disclosed. The motive for the traffic stop remains under investigation, Giordano said.
The case is likely to heighten public scrutiny of the Phoenix Police Department, which has faced ongoing questions about use of force and accountability. The arrests also stand out because they involve on-duty officers accused of carrying out what prosecutors described as a violent stop in a marked police vehicle.