PHOENIX — Officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix are the two Phoenix cops under criminal investigation for a violent and unreported traffic stop.
ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing and reporter Ford Hatchett confirmed the officers' names through multiple sources with Phoenix police and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Both officers, who are now on leave, worked out of the South Mountain Precinct.
A Phoenix spokesperson said the city will not yet name the officers because the police department’s criminal investigation is still ongoing.
So far, ABC15 has not been able to reach the officers and their attorneys for comment. A request to reach them was also sent by reporters to the police union and city.
The criminal investigation into Vasquez Jr. and Felix was sparked after Tempe Police received a call about a disabled vehicle.
According to a police report released by Tempe police earlier this week, the city’s officers spoke to one of the car’s passengers who escaped and reported being assaulted during a violent and chaotic traffic stop in south Phoenix, near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road.
A Tempe officer found the man’s story so concerning that he thought it had to have been done by criminals posing as police officers and reported it to Phoenix for further investigation.
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Sources told ABC15 that’s how Phoenix figured out it could have been two of its actual officers who conducted the unreported stop.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office told ABC15 it is now “diligently assessing” the roles these officers played in other cases.
"While we currently do not know the outcome of either investigation, the MCAO is diligently assessing the specific role of each officer in every open case where they are identified as a witness," a MCAO spokesperson said. "The potential impact to any open case is unknown right now and remains ongoing.”
MCAO said when they learn an officer is under investigation, the office identifies that officer's open cases and notifies the assigned deputy county attorneys to disclose to the defense.
Phoenix police's Special Investigation Detail is handling the criminal investigation into Vasquez Jr. and Felix.
Josh Logan, Co-Founder and Director of Training at Guardian Training & Consulting, believes it would be in Phoenix's best interest to hand the case to an outside agency.
Logan has nearly two decades of experience in law enforcement, including as an officer in Chandler. He now serves as an expert witness and consultant.
"It's not mandatory by any stretch of that notion," said Logan. "But I would say it's good practices for that agency to just go if there's any criminal conduct of our police officers due to the, I would say, to the severity of these allegations and due to the media coverage of that, we're going to push that onto another agency. If they want to take it."
He said the Arizona Department of Public Safety or another Valley agency could handle the case. Logan described it as an "easy request".
"From an interest of the big the big t word, what we call transparency on that, that would be a good idea," said Logan.
Currently, AZ DPS already investigates all of Phoenix police's officer involved shootings. According to their website, DPS' Major Incident Division would also investigate any criminal allegation against a police officer at the request of Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com and Ford Hatchett at Ford.Hatchett@ABC15.com.
