GLENDALE, AZ — Two men accused of posing as security guards now face felony charges. Glendale Police say the evidence against them includes disturbing videos the men recorded themselves and then posted on social media.
Glendale Police arrested Thomas Nickels, 22, and Alexander Alcantar, 21, saying they presented themselves online as Desert Protection Security.
One video, that police say they found on social media, appears to show a woman running down a dark street as men chase her with a taser. Court documents say the men eventually forced the woman to the ground, handcuffed her, and threatened to tase her as they recorded.
“They show some extremely disturbing content,” Sgt. Justin Ramsay, Glendale Police Public Information Officer, said.
An investigator with Glendale’s Violent Crime Impact Team discovered the videos on social media.
“They uncover just multiple, multiple videos that had been uploaded to Instagram. Videos of them pointing rifles at people attempting to leave parties, young people at parties who are having weapons pointed at them, that they're unlawfully detaining,” Sgt. Ramsay said.
Court records cite multiple incidents across the Valley this summer, involving rifles, handguns and tasers. One document accuses Nickels of pointing a handgun at a person’s head.
“There were no weapons pointed back at Nickels or Alcantar. There was no brandishing a weapon. There was no threats towards them. However, these two were pointing rifles, pistols, tasers in people's faces,” Sgt. Ramsay said.
The men wore uniforms investigators say resembled Sheriff’s deputies. MCSO says Alcantar had been accepted into its volunteer Posse program in 2023, but remained inactive and never served as an active volunteer.
The Department of Public Safety oversees security guard licensing. Police say Alcantar was never certified, and Nickels’ authorization expired.
“If you're in the job of security, your job is to secure typically a premises and typically to protect the people within that premises. When you start leaving said premises to chase after people…it's problematic at best,” Josh Logan, Guardian Training and Consulting Co-Founder and Director, said.
Security expert Josh Logan says the videos cross the lines of the profession.
“You're making songs, and you're actually celebrating using force on somebody, it's distasteful, unprofessional and unacceptable in our business,” Logan said.
Both men face felony charges including aggravated assault and impersonating a peace officer.
“We're looking for people to come forward and report to us if they had any knowledge or they'd been victimized themselves,” Sgt. Ramsay said.
Police say they have identified three victims, one just 17 years old.
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