2 Phoenix police officers face felony charges after alleged unreported traffic stop
Two fired Phoenix, Arizona, police officers have been arrested and charged with multiple felonies after being accused of conducting an unreported traffic stop and violently using force on a man and a woman, authorities said.
Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano announced charges against former Phoenix officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix, saying he has terminated both officers 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 on Saturday night.
According to a police report obtained by ABC's Phoenix affiliate station KNXV, the man and woman told the Tempe police officers that they were pulled over in Phoenix by an SUV with lights and siren around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 5.
The man and woman said that during the incident, the two officers punched them, restrained them and used a stun gun on them while they were still in their car, according to the report.
At one point, the man and woman alleged one of the suspects pulled a handgun, counted to three and threatened to shoot the man if he didn't get out of the car, according to the police report. The woman, according to the report, was handcuffed and pushed face-down to the ground, KNXV reported.
The man managed to escape, get back in his car and drive off, according to the report. His car broke down in Tempe, where he relayed the allegations to an officer who responded to a call about the man's disabled vehicle, the report says.
The woman told police that after the man escaped, the suspects allegedly released her, warning, "We know where you live now," according to the report.
Giordano said Vasquez and Felix were arrested on Saturday after being interviewed for the first time by detectives about the incident.
The chief said the former officers allegedly physically assaulted two people, including using a stun gun on them.
The officers have been charged by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office with a slew of charges, including aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, threatening and intimidating, causing criminal damage and tampering with evidence, according to Giordano.
Vasquez and Felix were booked at the Maricopa County Jail. Information on their attorneys was not immediately disclosed.
"Their actions severely undermine trust in law enforcement and violate the standards we expect from those who serve," Giordano said at a news conference on Saturday night. "There is no excuse for the conduct those two officers engaged in."
Giordano said a possible motive remains under investigation.
Both officers, who worked out of the police department's South Mountain Precinct, were on duty at the time the incident unfolded, Giordano said.
Giordano said the former officers did not activate their body cameras at the time of the traffic stop, and that investigators have found no security video evidence of the incident.
Vasquez and Felix were placed on administrative leave on Aug. 13 as the investigation continued, police officials said.
Giordano declined to release details of the man and woman's injuries, nor did he disclose what they told investigators.
"There is significantly more information uncovered demonstrating the egregious criminal conduct committed by these officers," said Giordano.
Giordano said a wider investigation is being conducted "to determine if other individuals were involved to determine if there are broader systemic concerns."
A judge ordered both Vasquez and Felix to be held on $100,000 bond each following a hearing on Saturday.
Tom Van Dorn, a prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, alleged during the bond hearing that Vasquez and Felix are a danger to the community and should be considered flight risks.
"Your Honor, these offenses were committed by on-duty police officers in a fully marked Phoenix police Tahoe," Van Dorn told a judge, according to KNXV.
