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Two Phoenix police officers arrested and fired after violent, unreported traffic stop
Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez Jr., both 31, were fired and arrested after an unreported Aug. 5 traffic stop in south Phoenix where they allegedly assaulted a couple. They face multiple felony charges; the investigation is ongoing.
Two Phoenix officers fired and arrested after alleged assault during unreported stop
Two Phoenix police officers have been fired and arrested after allegedly assaulting a couple during an unreported traffic stop earlier this month, authorities said. Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez Jr., both 31, face multiple felony charges, including aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, threatening and intimidating, criminal damage, hindering prosecution, and tampering with evidence.
The alleged assault occurred during an Aug. 5 traffic stop near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in south Phoenix. According to a Tempe police report obtained by KNXV, the couple told officers they were pulled over by an SUV using lights and a siren about 11:30 p.m. The man and woman alleged the officers punched them, restrained them, and used a Taser on them while they were still inside the vehicle.
The report said one officer allegedly pulled a handgun, counted to three, and threatened to shoot the man if he did not get out of the car. The woman was allegedly handcuffed and pushed face-down onto the ground. The man later escaped and drove away, but his vehicle broke down in Tempe, where he reported the alleged assault to police, according to the report. The woman said she was released after he fled and was warned, "We know where you live now."
Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano said during a news conference that detectives determined the former officers physically assaulted both victims and used a Taser during the stop. The officers allegedly did not report the stop or activate their body-worn cameras. Giordano said investigators found no video evidence of the incident but used the department's automatic vehicle locator technology to place the officers' marked police Tahoe at the scene.
"Their actions severely undermine trust in law enforcement and violate the standards we expect from those who serve," Giordano said. "When we become aware of misconduct, we take action and we hold officers accountable." He added, "There is no excuse for the conduct that these two officers engaged in."
Giordano said investigators have found no indication the officers knew the victims.
Investigation details
According to multiple reports, the officers conducted the traffic stop around 11:30 p.m. Phoenix police officials say the officers forced a man and woman out of the car by breaking a window and opening the doors. During the stop, the woman reported she was put in an arm bar, shocked with a stun gun, handcuffed, and put on a sidewalk. Vasquez allegedly punched the man who was driving, striking him multiple times in the head, face, eyes, nose, and groin, while Felix deployed his Taser, according to prosecutors. Vasquez then threatened to shoot the driver, Phoenix police said.
Prosecutors said that after detaining and handcuffing the woman, one of the officers told her "he's probably going to get shot" and "we know where you live now." The man escaped and drove away, but his vehicle broke down in Tempe, where he reported the incident to police. Tempe police initially believed the incident was a carjacking committed by men impersonating police officers.
Neither officer activated his body-worn camera during the stop, and there was no radio traffic, no call for service, no use-of-force report, and no supervisor notification. Vasquez admitted he failed to report the incident out of fear of the consequences of the policy violations.
Prosecutors noted that the officers had specialized training and knowledge of criminal investigations, which they used to conceal their conduct and hinder the case.
Court and status
At their initial court appearance Saturday night, a judge set a $100,000 secured appearance bond for each defendant, with electronic monitoring required if they are released. Reports indicate Vasquez had been released from custody while Felix remained incarcerated at the Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix. The officers face up to 20 years in prison each.
Both officers were assigned to patrol at the South Mountain Precinct. Vasquez had served with the department for eight years, and Felix had served for nine years.
Reactions
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association said it is "deeply troubled" by the officers' alleged conduct. State Sen. Catherine Miranda, State Rep. Junelle Cavero, and State Rep. Oscar De Los Santos sent a letter demanding answers from Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher.
The investigation is ongoing.
How each outlet told it
Baltimore News
Framing: Focuses on the couple's allegation and charges — Neutral to skeptical
Facts Included:
Two Phoenix police officers arrested and fired
Names: Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez Jr., both 31
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimTwo Phoenix police officers were fired and arrested after an unreported traffic stop.
ClaimThe officers were charged with aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, threatening and intimidating, criminal damage, hindering prosecution, and tampering with evidence.
ClaimProsecutors said the officers had specialized training and knowledge of criminal investigations, which they used to conceal their conduct and hinder the case.
ClaimState Sen. Catherine Miranda, State Rep. Junelle Cavero, and State Rep. Oscar De Los Santos sent a letter demanding answers from Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher.
ClaimNeither officer activated his body-worn camera during the stop, and there was no radio traffic, no call for service, no use-of-force report, and no supervisor notification.