PHOENIX — When Israel Devoe was first pulled over by a group of Phoenix police officers, he didn’t know he would end up caught in a violent version of a childhood game.
But that’s what happened, according to his defense attorney.
“Simon says, the kids' game… You lose by making simple mistakes, not on purpose, but by getting so caught up in the flow of directions that you miss something small,” a Maricopa County public defender told a jury during trial. “And that’s exactly what happened to my client.”
During a Nov. 3, 2024, traffic stop for alleged speeding, an officer gave Devoe a string of rapid-fire commands without giving him a chance to comply, according to body camera footage reviewed by ABC15.
Unsure of what to do, the video shows Devoe raise both hands into the air, causing a trio of officers to then take him down to the ground, where officers delivered a series of punches, knees, and elbows to his head and body.
Following the violent arrest, Devoe was charged with four felonies, including aggravated assault on officers and resisting arrest.
The officers claimed Devoe attacked them – something a jury unanimously rejected.
“I was just astonished with all the stuff that (the officers) said about me,” said Devoe, who plans to file a lawsuit, in an interview with ABC15. “It was just a bunch of build-up, a bunch of lies.”
The Phoenix Police Department declined an interview request and did not answer specific questions regarding the case because of Devoe’s threat of potential litigation.
But his case highlights an ongoing and systemic problem with violence, discrimination, and accountability, according to Devoe’s civil attorney, who also represents another Black man violently arrested by Phoenix officers around the same time as Devoe’s arrest.
“Officers will use extreme violence, extreme force, and then charge the victim of that violence with a made-up crime,” said attorney Jesse Showalter. “(Officers) believe they have a green light. And it’s clear that the Phoenix Police Department, the city council, the city manager and the mayor have given them the green light.”
BAD CASE OF ‘SIMON SAYS’
At his criminal trial, Devoe was represented by Lauren Pauls, a county public defender, who used the Simon Says analogy in both her opening and closing arguments.
“Simon Says, the kids' game, I'm sure you know it. You know, Simon says, touch your nose. Simon says tug on your ear. Now, point to the sky. Did you point? Well, if you did, you lose because Simon didn't say,” Pauls told the jury.
She continued, “He made a mistake that you could literally make in a game of Simon Says. Instead of putting his hands on top of his head, he put his hands above his head, and because of that simple mistake, he was taken down to the ground… and is now being charged.”
At the time of the arrest, Devoe worked as a supervisor for Allied Security.
He was driving a clearly marked Allied vehicle with a co-worker when he was stopped at night by Phoenix officers on Indian School Road just west of 23rd Avenue.
The four officers involved in Devoe’s traffic stop and arrest were Thomas Patterson, Nathan Epps, Ricky Toole, and Genner Cervantes. The following video is a split-screen of body camera recordings from all four officers. (The audio is from Officer Patterson’s camera in the upper right corner.)
Officer Patterson is the officer who first approaches Devoe about the nature of the stop.
From the initial traffic stop to Devoe’s arrest, it takes just over four minutes.
After officers pull Devoe’s legs out from underneath him and take him to the ground, very little is clearly captured on video because the body cameras for three of the officers fall off early in the arrest.
Quick glimpses from body cameras lying on the pavement show officers on top of Devoe as they punched and kneed him. One camera captured an officer twice, slamming Devoe’s head into the ground.
As that happened, his co-worker screamed out, “You’re hitting him in the head!”
The fallen body cameras do not clearly show any images of Devoe assaulting the officers.
Officer Cervantes’s camera only captured the very end of the arrest because he was detaining the co-worker while the other three arrested Devoe.
His footage shows him rush over to the other three and then pull back another officer’s arm to stop him from continuing to punch Devoe, saying, “Hey! Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.”
Devoe, who suffered a bloody scrape above his eye and turned down medical attention at the scene, told ABC15 he was worried about his life and said he believes he wasn’t beaten worse because he had a co-worker as a witness.
“One hundred percent,” he said. “I don’t think I’d be here today.”
‘CONSISTENT WITH JIU JITSU’
Phoenix police officials found all four officers’ use of force to be within policy, according to documents obtained by ABC15.
A commander wrote, “This Response to Resistance appears to be within policy.”
In their written police reports and during their trial testimony, the officers claimed that Devoe assaulted them in several ways. They also specifically claimed that he used a variety of methods “consistent with jiu jitsu.”
“THE SUBJECT WAS ABLE TO UTILIZE MANY TECHNIQUES CONSISTENT WITH JUJITSU SUCH AS A LEG LOCK, WRIST LOCKS, SWIMMING OUT OF GRIPS, AND SHRIMPING OUT OF MOUNTS,” according to a report written by Officer Epps. [Phoenix police reports are commonly written in all capital letters.]
Epps continued, “ALSO IN MY EXPERIENCE WITH MARTIAL ARTS, HE WAS WEARING A JIU-JITSU GI WHICH IS COMMONLY WORN BY PEOPLE WHO ARE WELL-VERSED IN MARTIAL ARTS SPECIFICALLY BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU. TYPICALLY IN THE MARTIAL ARTS WORLD SPECIFIC ITEMS OF CLOTHING ARE EARNED THROUGH WHAT CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A RITE OF PASSAGE OR ADVANCED TRAINING.”
When asked by ABC15 if he knows jiu-jitsu or has ever taken a class, Devoe responded, “Not at all.”
He also explained why he was wearing the “gi.”
“I bought (it) from Goodwill,” he said. “I bought the jacket from Goodwill for $3 because it matched my cowboy boots. That was it.”
His attorney called the officers’ reports and testimony outrageous.
“If you read the report and then watch the video, it's like two different worlds. It has no relationship to reality,” Showalter said. “It's like saying white is black, black is white. It's so obviously not true.”
He added, “All of it was unnecessary because Israel was surrendering… Putting your hands in the air is the universal symbol of surrender.”
SIMILAR ARREST
Devoe’s arrest happened at the same time Phoenix was making national and international headlines because of a different, sudden, and violent arrest involving a deaf man with cerebral palsy.
ABC15 was first to expose video from the arrest of Tyron McAlpin.
“What it says to me is that this is an accepted norm at the City of Phoenix to use extreme violence on people without justification and without reason, and then to make up reasons for it after the fact,” Showalter said.
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Showalter also represents McAlpin, who has already filed a federal lawsuit against Phoenix.
McAlpin was arrested in July 2024.
ABC15 first reported on his case in mid-October of that year. After the initial news stories, video of his arrest quickly went viral, prompting calls for action from leading community groups.
There were weeks of coverage with city leaders promising reform and change.
Devoe’s arrest happened while that was happening.
“This is an accepted norm at the City of Phoenix to use extreme violence on people without justification and without reason, and then to make up reasons for it after the fact,” Showalter said.
The timing was also significant because the arrests of Devoe and McAlpin occurred while Phoenix was fighting a Department of Justice investigation that found the city had a pattern and practice of using excessive force, discrimination, and weak oversight.
POLICING PHOENIX: ABC15 breaks down the Department of Justice's report into Phoenix PD
The DOJ probe into Phoenix began in 2021 following an ABC15 investigation into protesters falsely charged as gang members. It ended in 2025 after President Trump’s administration ended police oversight efforts across the country.
City leaders have continuously said they believe Phoenix PD can effectively police itself.
In 2025, after Devoe and McAlpin were arrested, the department changed its use of force policy as part a larger effort to implement reforms.
CHARGES DROPPED
Devoe’s criminal trial took place 10 months after his arrest in September 2025.
The trial lasted two days, with jurors hearing testimony from all four officers and watching clips of their body cameras.
At multiple points, Devoe’s defense attorney, Lauren Pauls, got an officer to admit none of Devoe’s alleged kicks or grabs were visible on body camera. Under cross-examination, officers also admitted that they did not accurately document all their uses of force and other details about the arrest.
For example, when pressed about issues with his reports, Officer Epps repeatedly responded, “I apologize. I’m not perfect.”
Pauls closed by stating the officers had an “incentive to not be truthful” because they had to be able to “justify the amount of force” they used on Devoe.
In a rare move, Devoe also agreed to take the stand to rebut the officers’ testimony.
When asked why he waived his right to remain silent and testify, Devoe answered, “To stand for what was right because I know if they could get away with it with me, who’s to say they won’t get away with it again.”
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office prosecutor Sabrina Castille closed her case by telling jurors, “He knew what he was doing, and that was purposely, intentionally trying to insult, injure, or provoke those officers and resist arrest. For that reason, I am asking that you find him guilty on all counts.”
They didn’t.
It took the jury about 40 minutes to leave the courtroom and then return with a verdict.
Devoe was unanimously found not guilty on all charges.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
