PHOENIX — A former Arizona Cardinals football player has filed a lawsuit against the cities of Mesa and Phoenix, claiming officers falsely arrested him at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport instead of the real suspect in a shooting.
Wesley Leasy, 54, was picking up his daughter at the airport on April 10, 2025, when police officers confronted them at gunpoint, forced them to lie on the ground, and handcuffed them. Leasy played linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals from 1995 to 1996. He ran for the state legislature in 2022.
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Leasy's daughter, Jade, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed April 10, 2026. The Leasys allege false arrest, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence.
During the incident, "Leasy was terrified for his life as well as the life of his Daughter," according to the lawsuit.
A Mesa Police Department spokesperson previously told ABC15 there had been a shooting minutes earlier near Country Club Drive and Brown Road.
At the city's Real Time Crime Center, traffic camera video near the scene showed a car that witnesses described as a white Mercedes with four doors, a sunroof, and a temporary, paper license plate.
A police helicopter followed the suspect vehicle westbound on the Loop 202 but lost sight of it near the airport.
Four minutes later, Leasy's white Mercedes, which matched the description of the suspect's car, was spotted. Police at the scene told Leasy they followed him while he circled the airport awaiting his daughter.
Leasy and his daughter were detained for less than five minutes before officers removed the handcuffs after officers at the homicide scene told them witnesses described the suspect as a white man.
The incident was "embarrassing and traumatizing" for Mr. Leasy and his Daughter, who still do not understand how Defendants could have erred so badly, according to the lawsuit.
Police said they later arrested a suspect in the case who fit that description.
A Mesa police sergeant at the airport apologized to Leasy as he explained how the mix-up occurred.
ABC15 reached out to the Mesa and Phoenix police departments seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Mesa police responded that they do not comment on any active or pending litigation.
