Highlights
- Two Phoenix officers were placed on administrative leave after using force during an Aug. 5 traffic stop without filing a required report or activating body cameras.
- A Tempe police report released Tuesday described victims who were stunned, punched, and handcuffed — and who initially believed they had been stopped by impersonators.
- Phoenix PD confirmed a criminal investigation is underway, to be followed by an administrative review, but has not confirmed whether its officers are the same individuals described by the victims.
- Phoenix PD does not track how often body cameras are dislodged during use-of-force incidents, a gap that a prior ABC15 investigation surfaced after a separate violent arrest in late 2024.
Two Phoenix police officers are under criminal investigation after the department confirmed they used force during a traffic stop in south Phoenix on Aug. 5 but failed to file a required use-of-force report and did not activate their body cameras, according to a Phoenix PD statement reported by Arizona's Family and independently confirmed by KJZZ and KTAR. Both officers were immediately placed on administrative leave.
The investigation was triggered by a Tempe police report released Tuesday that gave the first detailed account of what two victims said happened near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road at approximately 11 p.m. on Aug. 5. According to the Tempe report, a man and woman in a Dodge Charger were pulled over by two men in a white SUV fitted with spotlights, a blue strip, and "POLICE" lettering, using red and blue lights. The stop turned violent: the woman told Tempe police she was placed in an arm bar, shocked with a stun gun, and handcuffed; the man said he was repeatedly punched and shocked with a stun gun and at one point threatened with a gun before he drove away.
A Tempe officer who responded that night checked with neighboring agencies, including Phoenix PD, and found no record of anyone pulling the car over. That gap led the officer to write that he suspected the victims may have been targeted by people impersonating police officers, possibly in an attempted carjacking. Phoenix PD confirmed Tuesday that two of its officers did conduct a stop in south Phoenix at approximately 11:30 p.m. that night, but the department would not confirm whether those officers are the same individuals described in the Tempe report, or explain why Phoenix PD initially had no record of the stop.
"Although details remain limited at this early stage, we recognize the seriousness of any allegation involving potential criminal behavior by our personnel," Phoenix Police Commander Mercedes Fortune said in a statement.
The department said it learned of the accusations from community members before the Tempe report surfaced, according to Your Valley. A criminal investigation is now underway, to be followed by a separate administrative investigation.
The case lands against a documented accountability gap inside Phoenix PD. A prior ABC15 investigation found that Phoenix PD does not track body-worn camera dislodgments as a separate data point, even after all three officers' cameras fell off during the arrest of Israel Devoe in late 2024. The department holds a five-year, $39 million contract with Axon for body cameras. A Newark study cited in that report found cameras fell off in 34% of use-of-force cases analyzed.
Phoenix PD said more information will be released as the investigation progresses.
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 19/08/2026 02:55
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 19/08/2026 02:55. Every claim traces to a source.
