Highlights
- Former Phoenix officers Luis Vasquez and Antonio Felix were fired, arrested and charged with felony offenses for an alleged robbery and assault during an off-the-books traffic stop.
- Felix's taser was discharged 29 times during the Aug. 5 incident; both men have since bonded out of jail.
- Police Chief Matt Giordano has ordered an audit of all prior activity by both officers, expanding to the entire South Mountain Precinct.
- The criminal and internal affairs investigations are being kept within the Phoenix Police Department, over the objection of those who favor outside review.
Two former Phoenix police officers fired and charged with felony offenses after an alleged robbery and assault of a couple during an unreported traffic stop have bonded out of jail, Police Chief Matt Giordano confirmed Monday.
Former officers Luis Vasquez and Antonio Felix were arrested following an Aug. 5 incident in south Phoenix in which, according to police documents, the pair initiated what they later described to investigators as a routine DUI stop, without notifying any other department personnel. Records show their cruiser rear-ended the victims' vehicle after it pulled over. Prosecutors allege Vasquez then broke the driver's side window, grabbed the male driver by his hair and repeatedly punched him in the face. Felix is accused of tasing the female passenger; a subsequent log audit showed his taser was discharged 29 times.
Detectives said both men confessed to assaulting, tasing and threatening to shoot the couple. The New York Times, ABC News and FOX 10 Phoenix have each independently confirmed the arrests and charges.
Giordano, who sat down with Arizona's Family on Monday, said he had been fielding hundreds of calls demanding resolution. "I want to put a stop to this and make sure there are no bigger issues," he said.
Asked about the officers' personnel histories, Giordano said neither file contained red flags that would have predicted the conduct, noting one collision-related policy entry for one of the two, but nothing more serious.
In response, the department has launched an audit of all prior activity by Vasquez and Felix, which will expand to review operations across the entire South Mountain Precinct. Giordano defended keeping both the criminal and internal affairs investigations inside the Phoenix Police Department, saying that handing the case to a third party would significantly delay the investigation and postpone answers for the public.
Giordano confirmed the two former officers had ridden together as a two-person unit on the night of the incident and on a handful of prior occasions, though not as a regular pairing.
Both men have bonded out of jail. The precinct-wide audit is ongoing.
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 25/08/2026 05:09
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 25/08/2026 05:09. Every claim traces to a source.
