Overview
- Police say Officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix carried out a late‑night traffic stop on Aug. 5 during which they allegedly beat a driver, tased the passenger and threatened to shoot the driver.
- The encounter was not recorded on body‑worn cameras and was not reported through required radio or use‑of‑force channels, which led investigators to rely on other evidence.
- Prosecutors and detectives used a forensic download from a Taser showing multiple activations and automatic vehicle locator GPS data to place a Phoenix police Tahoe at the scene and corroborate victim accounts.
- Both officers were interviewed, then arrested and fired on Aug. 22 and face multiple felony counts including aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution; a judge set $100,000 secured bonds and one officer has since posted bond while the other remains jailed.
- City investigators and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office are continuing a broader probe to determine motive, whether others were involved, how reporting and camera failures occurred, and what this means for accountability and cases where the officers served as witnesses.