PHOENIX — A special city disciplinary panel has overturned the suspensions of the pair of Phoenix police officers involved in the violent and sudden arrest of an innocent deaf man with cerebral palsy.
Phoenix confirmed that Officers Kyle Sue and Benjamin Harris had their 24-hour suspensions taken away by the Civil Service Board after the pair appealed their discipline for their actions in the August 2024 arrest.
Tyron McAlpin’s case grabbed national headlines after ABC15 broadcast video of the sudden and violent encounter.
The officers initially went after McAlpin based on false and unverified allegations from another man, body camera video shows. After Harris and Sue repeatedly punched and tased McAlpin, they charged him with resisting arrest and aggravated assault.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office dropped McAlpin’s charges the week after ABC15’s first report on the arrest, which drew national outrage.
At the time the 24-hour suspensions were announced, former Chief Michael Sullivan promised his department would “learn from this and move forward together as a stronger department and community.”
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Inside the city, the case was controversial and split factions within the police department.
The rank-and-file police union said Sue and Harris were found in policy after an internal investigation, but Chief Sullivan reversed course and issued the suspensions.
Union officials called the then-chief’s decision “shameful” and “pathetic.”
The Civil Service Board, which is a group of residents appointed by the city council and hears appeals in private, “rescinded” Harris’s discipline, according to meeting records.
Sue’s suspension was “modified,” records show.
The city confirmed Sue’s discipline was reduced to a written reprimand.
McAlpin is suing the City of Phoenix over the arrest, and the lawsuit is still ongoing.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
