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Two Phoenix Cops Fired and Arrested After Alleged Violent Traffic Stop
Two Phoenix police officers have been fired and arrested after prosecutors accused them of assaulting a man and woman during an unreported late-night traffic stop in south Phoenix. Investigators say the officers did not activate their body cameras, call for backup or file a use-of-force report, while newly released court documents detail allegations involving Tasers, punches and a firearm.
Antonio Felix; Luis Vasquez Jr.Credit : Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (2)
A routine traffic stop allegedly turned into a violent encounter that investigators initially thought might have involved criminals impersonating police officers.
Now, two Phoenix officers are behind bars, facing multiple felony charges.
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The incident happened shortly after 11:30 p.m. on August 5 near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in south Phoenix, according to court documents and police. Officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix, both 31, were working out of the South Mountain Precinct.
According to prosecutors, the officers were driving a Phoenix police Tahoe and followed a Dodge Charger before intermittently activating their lights and siren.
Investigators described those activations as inconsistent with normal traffic-stop procedures. The police vehicle allegedly struck the rear of the Charger before the officers approached the occupants.
What allegedly happened next is at the center of the criminal case.
Court documents say Vasquez and Felix forced the occupants from the vehicle and used Tasers against them.
Prosecutors allege Vasquez repeatedly punched the male driver in the head, face, eyes, nose and groin, while Felix used a Taser against him.
The documents also allege that Vasquez pulled his firearm, threatened to shoot the driver and began counting down.
The female passenger was allegedly restrained, shocked with a Taser and handcuffed.
According to prosecutors, she was eventually released after being warned that the man would “probably get shot” and that the officers knew where she lived.
The allegations became even more serious because the encounter apparently left almost no conventional police record.
Investigators say neither officer activated a body-worn camera.
There was reportedly no radio traffic, no call for service, no use-of-force report and no notification to a supervisor.
The male driver eventually escaped and drove away.
His vehicle later broke down in Tempe, where he reported what had happened to a Tempe police officer responding to the disabled vehicle.
The allegations were so unusual that the Tempe officer initially believed the victims might have encountered police impersonators rather than actual officers.
That report eventually brought Phoenix police into the investigation.
On August 13, Vasquez and Felix were placed on administrative leave while the investigation continued. Investigators later used the police vehicle's automatic vehicle-location data to establish that the officers and their marked police vehicle were at the location.
The case then moved rapidly.
On August 22, Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano announced that both officers had been fired and arrested.
“There is no excuse for the conduct that these two officers engaged in,” Giordano said, describing the allegations as “egregious criminal conduct.”
The charges include aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, threatening and intimidating, criminal damage, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence, among other felony allegations.
Newly released court documents also provide investigators' accounts of what the officers themselves told detectives.
Vasquez reportedly said he believed he was stopping a drunk driver and acknowledged following the vehicle while switching his emergency equipment on and off.
He also reportedly acknowledged punching the driver, drawing his firearm and threatening to shoot him.
According to the documents, Vasquez said he did not activate his body camera or file a report because he feared the consequences of the policy violations.
Felix reportedly told investigators that he also believed the driver was intoxicated and that the situation escalated quickly.
Investigators questioned why neither officer called for backup or notified a supervisor if they believed they faced a serious threat. The documents say Felix did not provide an answer.
There is another troubling piece of the investigation.
Police say the officers had access to sensitive information connected to the vehicle's registration, including address information.
Prosecutors allege their actions afterward demonstrated an ability to conceal what had happened and potentially hinder the investigation.
At their initial court appearance, a judge set $100,000 secured bonds for each former officer.
Electronic monitoring was ordered as a condition of release.
The criminal case, however, is far from over.
The Phoenix Police Department says its Professional Standards Bureau is continuing to investigate whether anyone else was involved and whether the incident reveals broader systemic problems.
That question could become one of the most important parts of the case.
Police departments rely heavily on body cameras, radio communications, vehicle-location systems and mandatory reporting requirements to establish accountability during encounters with the public.
Here, investigators say several of those safeguards were absent.
Yet the case was still uncovered.
A disabled vehicle, a report to another police department and vehicle-location data ultimately helped investigators connect the allegations to two Phoenix officers.
For Phoenix police leadership, the damage extends beyond the two defendants.
Giordano acknowledged that the alleged conduct “erodes community trust” and said the department was committed to rebuilding that trust.
The victims' identities and detailed medical information have not been publicly released, and the allegations have not been proven in court.
But the timeline already raises difficult questions about how two on-duty officers could allegedly conduct an unreported encounter, use significant force and leave without immediately triggering the department's normal accountability mechanisms.
And investigators are still asking the question that could determine how much bigger this case becomes:
Was this an isolated, alleged failure by two officers, or does the investigation uncover something deeper inside the department?
Editor's Note: The allegations described in this article come from police statements, prosecutors and court documents. Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not established a final motive for the alleged conduct.
