Coverage spread: 4 sources — 4 unrated
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Two Phoenix police officers conducted a traffic stop on Aug. 5 near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road that was never reported by any agency.
- The officers used force — including a stun gun, punches, and a firearm threat, according to the victims — but failed to file a use-of-force report or activate body cameras.
- Both officers were placed on administrative leave, and Phoenix’s Special Investigations Detail opened a criminal investigation, with an administrative review to follow.
- A Tempe police report, generated after officers responded to a disabled-vehicle call, first surfaced the allegations and included a Tempe officer’s suspicion that the victims may have encountered police impersonators.
Where they differ
- ABC15 emphasizes that Phoenix police asked Tempe to delay releasing its report and that the officers under investigation had still not been interviewed, raising process concerns.
- AZFamily focuses on the discrepancy that Phoenix would not confirm whether the two officers under investigation are the same men described in the Tempe report, despite confirming a stop occurred.
- AZFamily includes a direct quote from Phoenix Police Commander Mercedes Fortune, which ABC15 and other outlets do not feature.
- 12 News and FOX 10 provide only brief framing of the story without the detailed victim accounts or procedural details found in ABC15 and AZFamily’s reporting.
Two Phoenix police officers are under criminal investigation after a man and woman said they were beaten, shocked with a stun gun, and threatened with a firearm during an Aug. 5 traffic stop that no agency, including Phoenix police, initially reported conducting. Phoenix police have confirmed two officers did carry out the stop, that they used force without reporting it as required, and that they failed to activate their body-worn cameras. Both officers have been placed on administrative leave while the department’s Special Investigations Detail conducts a criminal investigation, to be followed by an administrative review.
What happened during the traffic stop?
According to a Tempe police report, the incident happened around 11 p.m. on Aug. 5 near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in south Phoenix. A man and woman were driving a Dodge Charger when a white SUV resembling an older-model police vehicle — equipped with spotlights, a blue stripe, and “POLICE” lettering — used red and blue lights to pull them over. Two men got out. The woman told Tempe officers she was put in an arm bar, handcuffed, and shocked with a stun gun. The man said he was punched repeatedly, shocked with a stun gun, and at one point had a gun pointed at him. He ultimately drove away from the scene.
How did the case surface if no stop was reported?
The victims’ car turned up later as a disabled vehicle with a window ripped out and an overheating engine, prompting a call to Tempe police. When Tempe officers spoke with the couple and heard their account, one officer grew suspicious that this wasn’t a legitimate police stop at all. He checked with dispatch and neighboring agencies twice and found that no law enforcement agency, including Phoenix police, had any record of pulling the car over that night. That absence of a report led the Tempe officer to initially suspect the pair may have been targeted by people impersonating police officers, possibly in an attempted carjacking.
What has Phoenix police confirmed?
After ABC15 began asking questions, Phoenix police confirmed that two of its officers did conduct a traffic stop in south Phoenix around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 5, and that the officers used force but never reported it and failed to turn on their body cameras. Both officers, who have not been publicly identified, were placed on administrative leave. Phoenix Police Commander Mercedes Fortune said in a statement that “although details remain limited at this early stage, we recognize the seriousness of any allegation involving potential criminal behavior by our personnel.” Sources told ABC15 the officers are assigned to the South Mountain Precinct. The department says its Special Investigations Detail is handling the criminal probe, after which its Professional Standards Bureau will open a separate administrative investigation.
What hasn’t been confirmed?
Phoenix police have not confirmed whether the two officers now under investigation are the same two men the victims described in the Tempe report, nor explained why the department initially had no record of any traffic stop that night. Multiple sources told ABC15 that Phoenix police asked Tempe to hold off releasing its report until Phoenix’s own investigation was finished, and that the officers under investigation had not yet been interviewed as of the reporting. The victims, a man and woman, have not been named or reached for comment; ABC15 is withholding their names because they are considered crime victims.
Why does this matter?
The case raises questions about accountability inside the Phoenix Police Department, a force that has faced past scrutiny over use-of-force practices. The fact that a violent encounter involving stun guns and a firearm went completely unreported — with no agency acknowledging the stop even happened — meant an outside department, Tempe, ended up uncovering it almost by accident, after responding to an unrelated disabled-vehicle call. That sequence has fueled concern about whether the incident would have come to light at all without the victims’ account and Tempe’s follow-up. Phoenix police say more information will be released as the investigation continues, but as of the latest reporting, the officers involved had not been identified publicly or interviewed by investigators.
Sources
Featured photo: Marine 69-71 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)