Two former Phoenix police officers are facing multiple felony charges after police say they assaulted and tased a man and woman during an unreported traffic stop. The encounter was apparently so far outside normal police procedure that another officer initially believed the pair had been victimized by people impersonating law enforcement.
In a video obtained by ABC 15, former officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix made their initial court appearances late Saturday night, where a judge set bond at $100,000 for each man. Their release conditions include electronic monitoring, while charges against them include kidnapping and aggravated assault.
The case stems from an August 5 traffic stop near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in Phoenix. Police Chief Matt Giordano said officers determined the two officers were on duty and driving a marked Phoenix Police Department Tahoe when they stopped a vehicle carrying a male driver and female passenger.
According to the police, the officers never documented the stop and did not activate their body-worn cameras. What they say happened during the encounter, however, eventually came to light after the victims crossed paths with another police department.
Traffic Stop Was Initially Mistaken for an Attempted Carjacking
In stories shared by the Associated Press and the official Phoenix Law Enforcement Association Facebook page said the victims reported that the officers smashed a window on their vehicle during the stop. Vasquez is accused of repeatedly punching the male driver and threatening to shoot him, while the female passenger was removed from the vehicle and handcuffed.
They also determined that a Taser was used against both victims. Giordano said detectives found no indication that Vasquez or Felix knew either person before the encounter.
The male driver eventually managed to leave and later abandoned the vehicle in neighboring Tempe, while the woman was released at the scene. When a Tempe police officer responded to the abandoned vehicle, dispatch advised that it had not been reported as fleeing from any neighboring law enforcement agency.
That officer contacted the vehicle owner’s mother, which eventually led police to both occupants. After hearing their accounts of being tased and beaten by people who appeared to be officers, the Tempe officer wrote that he believed they had been victims of an attempted carjacking by people impersonating police.
Giordano said his own initial reaction was similar because the accusations were “so far outside the bounds of our policies.” Police eventually connected a Phoenix police vehicle to the location through its automatic vehicle locator, prompting the department’s special investigations detail to take over.
Prosecutor Says Officers Used Their Authority To “Cause Harm”
During Saturday’s court appearance, prosecutor Tom Van Dorn argued that the officers used their positions of authority to carry out an unlawful detention and then concealed what happened.
“Police officers hold one of the most sacred positions of trust in our society on the condition that they will use their authority to protect and serve and not cause harm,” Van Dorn told the court. “But that’s exactly what these defendants did. They caused harm.”
Van Dorn also argued for the $100,000 bonds by describing both former officers as potential risks to the community and flight risks who possess knowledge about evading law enforcement. He said the pair failed to document the stop and their use of force because they feared the consequences.
Giordano announced Saturday that both men had been fired and arrested. Vasquez had worked for Phoenix police for eight years and Felix for nine, and while Giordano acknowledged both had previous policy violations, he said they were “nothing of this nature.”
Vasquez secured his release on bond Sunday, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, while Felix remained in custody. Both men are scheduled to return to court Friday, and the Phoenix Police Department says its investigation and audit remain ongoing.
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, which represents many of the city’s officers, has also backed the decision to terminate Vasquez and Felix.
Comments and Reactions to the Phoenix Officers’ Arrests
The arrests left many commenters with one overriding question: why? Several people struggled to understand what could have motivated two officers with eight and nine years on the force to jeopardize their careers and freedom during what police say was an unlawful traffic stop, with one person calling it “mind-boggling” that they would take such a risk on a seemingly random night.
Others were still trying to piece together exactly what happened, particularly because the victims themselves initially believed they had encountered police impersonators. “So, the accused actually ARE Phoenix PD?” one commenter asked, while another simply wanted to know, “What did the officers do?”
Some also questioned whether more information could eventually explain why the encounter happened in the first place, despite police saying they have found no connection between the former officers and the victims.
There was plenty of speculation as a result, including suggestions that the encounter might have been targeted or that additional victims could eventually come forward. None of that has been established by the police, however, and those theories remain exactly that as Phoenix police continue investigating what led to the August 5 stop.
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association’s decision to support the firings also caught people’s attention. One commenter wondered whether the union knew more than had been publicly released, while another couldn’t resist the wordplay, joking that the former officers are “likely going to need a PLEA deal.”