Highlights
- Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano fired officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix on August 22, 2026.
- The pair face felony charges including kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and evidence tampering from an August 5 stop near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road.
- The stop was never reported and no body-worn camera was activated; both officers initially denied making any contact with the vehicle.
- Vasquez had served nine years with the department, Felix eight, both out of the South Mountain Precinct.
Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano fired officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix on August 22 after a criminal investigation confirmed the pair carried out a violent traffic stop on August 5 and never reported it, according to FOX 10 and ABC15.
The stop occurred around 11:30 p.m. near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in Phoenix. Detectives determined the officers physically assaulted both victims and deployed a Taser during the encounter. No report was filed and no body-worn camera was activated. When questioned by dispatchers, both officers initially denied making any stop or contact with the vehicle's occupants, according to ABC15's investigation.
Vasquez Jr. had served nine years with the Phoenix Police Department; Felix had served eight. Both were assigned to the South Mountain Precinct and were placed on administrative leave on August 13, roughly a week after the incident, before their termination and arrest.
Both former officers now face charges including kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and evidence tampering, according to azfamily.com.
What charges do the officers face?
According to reporting by azfamily.com, Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez Jr. face charges including kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and evidence tampering. The charges stem from the August 5 stop, during which detectives say the officers assaulted two victims and used a Taser, then failed to report the encounter or activate their body-worn cameras.
The firings mark the latest disciplinary action under Chief Giordano, who inherited a department with a documented record of use-of-force terminations. ABC15 previously reported that a prior Phoenix chief fired three officers in separate incidents, including one for drawing a weapon on a pregnant woman and another for inflammatory social media posts. A separate ABC15 report documented the 2022 firing of officer Jesse Johnson following an out-of-policy shooting that killed Ali Osman near 19th and Glendale avenues.
Felony arraignment dates for Vasquez Jr. and Felix had not been publicly announced as of publication.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- Fox 10 Phoenix retrieved 23/08/2026 04:39
- ABC15 Arizona retrieved 23/08/2026 04:39
- AZ Family (3TV/CBS5) retrieved 23/08/2026 04:39
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 23/08/2026 04:39. Every claim traces to a source.
