Fired Phoenix officers' violent traffic stop revealed by taser, GPS data

PHOENIX - New details are emerging about the arrest of two Phoenix police officers accused of failing to report a use of force and turning off their body cameras during a traffic stop.

What they're saying:

Both officers now face a list of charges, but without body camera footage, investigators and prosecutors are leaning on other digital evidence to piece the case together.

During a court proceeding, a Deputy County Attorney argued, "The state does believe this defendant, along with the co-defendant in this case, are a danger to the victims, the community, and a potential flight risk."

What we know:

Former Phoenix police officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix have been fired and arrested. They are facing charges including aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, felony assault involving a bound or otherwise physically restrained individual, threatening and intimidating, criminal damage, hindering prosecution, and tampering with evidence.

In a Tempe police report, the couple had been pulled over near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road. Court documents revealed the officers crashed into the victim's car, but claimed they pulled over an impaired driver in a high-crime area. They said the vehicle's owner did not match the vehicle. The cops also allegedly tried forcing open their doors and smashing the driver's side window. 

"They used extreme and unjustified violence against these victims. Defendant Vasquez punched victim one multiple times in the head, face, eyes, nose, and groin. He broke the window that came entry to this motor vehicle. He pointed his surface firearm at the victims and even counted down from three, threatening to shoot," the Deputy County Attorney said.

New Findings:

Felix is accused of tasing the couple multiple times. According to Phoenix police, the officers did not turn on their body cameras, so investigators followed a digital trail left by Felix’s taser.

"The forensic download of his taser showed six safety activations with 29 electrical discharge events during the encounter, which corroborated the victim's statements to investigators. And he also tased victim two while she was being placed in an armed car and being restrained by the enforcement," the prosecutor added. 

That matches the victims' reported injuries of burn marks consistent with the tasers contact pattern.

How It Was Tracked:

Retired Phoenix Police Commander Jeff Halstead explained how this data is tracked. "On the taser devices, there are taser downloads and software and firm wear uploads that every time the taser is tested, deployed, and it has a lot of metadata and other types of valuable evidentiary data that’s going to lead investigators to know exactly how long was it deployed and things like that," Halstead said.

Investigators paired this evidence with GPS tracking.

"AVL [automatic vehicle location] technology is extremely important, so every police car in most Phoenix metro area, and most departments around the country have GPS location services on their patrol cars. Not just from a perspective of accountability, but if an officer has an emergency, we can actually locate their vehicle," retired Chandler Police Officer Josh Logan said.

Big picture view:

Both later admitted to a lot of their actions, while Vasquez admitted to not reporting the situation because of his previous policy violations. The Phoenix Police Department said the former cops had past violations, but nothing to this extent.

Vasquez was with the department for eight years, while Felix was with them for nine years. Both officers were assigned to patrol at the South Mountain Precinct.

What's next:

Bail was set at $100,000, and online records show Vasquez has bailed out.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office says they are reviewing the case and cannot comment, noting that charging decisions depend on the law, evidence of a crime, and the likelihood of conviction. Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano said they're still investigating a motive, and are looking through information including radio traffic and their automatic vehicle locator.

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