Police officers are here to serve and protect the public from all kinds of threats on the road, but imagine if officers themselves begin to speed around town without their lights on, as if there is no tomorrow.
The case of a former Goodyear officer who stepped down from his duty in August last year after he allegedly violated the speed limits on numerous occasions by quite a margin has been exposed.
Not only fellow officers but even citizens complained about his speeding behavior, which could have taken somebody’s life. However, the officer in question was not guilty of committing the crime.
The case highlights how officers can take advantage of the authority their uniform and badge provide, often crossing lines even a repeat offender would not dare to cross.
Speeding at 100 MPH or Higher
Chad Matthews joined the Goodyear Police Department after serving as a sheriff’s deputy in Washington state for around ten years.
He joined as an instructor for ‘Below 100,’ a special initiative that aimed to prevent officer deaths by adopting measures that enhance safety, such as wearing a seat belt, keeping the speed in check, etc.
Now, though, according to a report by Fox 10 Phoenix, Matthews’ speeding habits led him to resign from his duty, and Goodyear Police Chief Brian Issitt has been vocal about the violations committed by his officer.
Police department policy dictates that officers must have their lights and sirens on when responding to calls that require them to speed through roads.
However, Matthews’ body camera recordings between 2023 and 2025 highlighted extreme speeding incidents without activating lights or the siren.
On 26 November 2023, he hit speeds of up to 124 MPH on Loop 303 while responding to an incident at 2 a.m., but only with his lights on. In another incident on 28 January 2024, Matthews hit 127 MPH on I-10 while heading to the scene of an accident at 1 a.m., even failing to stop at a red light.
A year later, on 5 January 2025, Matthews was recorded reaching speeds of up to 113 MPH while assisting another agency, without activating the lights or sirens. The report adds that Matthews used lights without the siren, or used them inconsistently on 20 occasions.
When Issitt was asked in an interview if the public was fortunate not to have been hit by Matthews, he said:
“That is 100 percent true, there were no collisions, but I don’t believe on running a police department based off of luck.”
An internal investigation by Issitt in May 2025 exposed 37 incidents of excessive speeding by Matthews. In ten of those, his speed was higher than 100 MPH. Issitt added:
“Our officer was not doing his job to protect the public. He was actually putting them in danger.”
An internal review shed light on one incident, where an officer was nearly hit at an intersection after Matthews failed to stop at a red light. A text message by that officer read:
“Chad did it again. He just came blowing through intersection lights but no siren… if something’s not done about his driving, he is going to kill someone plain and simple.”
Issitt stated that upon receiving that complaint in January 2025, the department intensified its investigation into Matthews’ driving behavior. He said:
“As soon as we received that information then we were able to start looking backwards at some of the pattern that, quite frankly, I was unaware of, but we were able to see a pattern of driving behavior that then led to a deeper investigation.”
Matthews Said Speeding Was His Personality
A civilian complaint in October 2024 alleged that Matthews sped through two stop signs on Estrella Parkway without lights and sirens. The complainant stated:
“It was pretty appalling to me, seeing an officer kind of go that fast through traffic.”
It was later found that Matthews’ mother was in the passenger seat. In his last internal investigation, Matthews said speeding was a part of him. He said:
“I kind of have always been going at the speed of light, trying to accomplish everything in a moment’s time. It’s my personality.”
Issitt assured that complaints can be viewed by anyone within the department for enhanced supervision. He said:
“Internal or external complaints are now moving up through our chain of command, so that more supervisors can have eyes on the complaints and are able to really find if there are patterns or to make sure the appropriate steps are being taken to ensure that we are acting in the best interest of our community.”
However, it took around two years and 40 speeding violations to identify a pattern with Matthews’ driving behavior.
Issitt stated that the police department would have terminated Matthews if he hadn’t left on his own. He said:
“It was one thousand percent an easy decision in terms of making the correct decision to relieve officer Matthews of his responsibilities with the Goodyear Police Department.”
The question that remains is whether police officers continue to put their and others’ lives at risk through speeding, and if they are being dealt with sternly within a reasonable time frame.
RECORDS: Findings show a text from a fellow officer that read: “Chad did it again. He just came blowing through intersection lights but no siren… if something’s not done about his driving, he is going to kill someone plain and simple.”https://t.co/wOXKtej0Ac
— Justin Lum | 林俊豪 (@jlumfox10) May 14, 2026