Highlights
- A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez on Aug. 31 on felony kidnapping, aggravated assault, and evidence-tampering charges.
- The Aug. 5 stop near 15th Avenue and Broadway Road produced no body-camera footage, no radio traffic, and no supervisor notification from either officer.
- Prosecutors allege the pair destroyed or concealed a cellphone to prevent its use as evidence in subsequent proceedings.
- Both officers pleaded not guilty; their next court date is scheduled for November.
A Maricopa County grand jury indicted two former Phoenix police officers on Aug. 31 on a combined nine counts stemming from an off-the-books traffic stop that left two civilians injured and a cellphone allegedly destroyed, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez, both fired from the Phoenix Police Department and arrested in the weeks following the incident, face three counts of aggravated assault, two felony counts of kidnapping, one felony count of criminal damage, one felony count of tampering with physical evidence, one felony count of conspiracy to commit first-degree hindering prosecution, and one misdemeanor count of threatening or intimidating, according to Arizona's Family, FOX 10 Phoenix, and ABC News.
The stop occurred late at night on Aug. 5 near 15th Avenue and Broadway Road. Investigators say Vasquez held a male driver at gunpoint, damaging the car's driver's side window and injuring the man when he was unable to fight back. Felix is accused of placing the female passenger in an arm bar, handcuffing her, deploying a stun gun on her, and pushing her to the ground before placing her in the back of a police car.
Court paperwork states that neither officer activated his body-worn camera during the stop, and that there was no radio traffic, no call for service, no use-of-force report, and no supervisor notification, a procedural void that investigators say helped expose the incident.
Prosecutors allege Vasquez and Felix destroyed or concealed a cellphone to prevent it from being used as evidence in subsequent official proceedings.
Vasquez, an Army veteran, served with the department for eight years. Records show he was involved in a deadly officer-involved shooting in February 2025; prosecutors later cleared him of criminal wrongdoing in that case. Felix had been with the department for nine years. Both were assigned to patrol duties at the South Mountain Precinct.
Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano previously told Arizona's Family that there were no prior red flags involving the two former officers.
Why does this matter to Scottsdale-area residents and business owners?
Civilian exposure to off-the-books police contact, stops that generate no official record, is a liability concern for any employer whose workforce moves through the South Mountain corridor at night. The indictment's evidence-tampering and conspiracy counts signal that prosecutors intend to argue the concealment was deliberate, not incidental, which raises the stakes for any civil litigation the victims may pursue against the city.
Both officers pleaded not guilty earlier this week. Their next court date is scheduled for November.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- AZ Family (3TV/CBS5) retrieved 11/09/2026 00:09
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 11/09/2026 00:09. Every claim traces to a source.
