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.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com and Ford Hatchett at Ford.Hatchett@ABC15.com.
