Coverage spread: 2 sources — 2 unrated
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Both stories involve lawsuits against Arizona police departments over on-duty crashes caused by officers.
- Both indicate that questions have arisen about oversight — whether officers should have remained in driving/patrol roles given known issues.
- Both cases remain legally unresolved in key respects, with settlement details or hearing outcomes still pending.
Where they differ
- 12 News focuses on Flagstaff, reporting the city agreed to settle two lawsuits tied to a police officer’s medical condition and resulting crashes, one fatal, but gives few specifics.
- ABC15 focuses on Phoenix officer Antonio Felix, tying his 2023 crash lawsuit to his more recent arrest and firing over an alleged violent “off the books” traffic stop involving kidnapping and assault charges.
- ABC15 provides granular detail — dueling driver accounts, citation details, damages sought, and a scheduled 2026 arbitration date — while the Flagstaff report offers no comparable factual detail on its settlements.
- ABC15 includes the plaintiff’s personal complaint that the city is rushing him to settle, a perspective absent from the Flagstaff coverage.
The city of Flagstaff has agreed to settle two lawsuits tied to a police officer whose driving duties came under scrutiny after a medical condition preceded two crashes, one of which was fatal. Separately, a Phoenix police officer named Antonio Felix — now facing criminal charges in an unrelated kidnapping and assault case — is also being sued over a 2023 on-duty crash that injured an Uber driver in South Phoenix.
What happened in the Flagstaff case?
According to 12 News, Flagstaff has agreed to settle two lawsuits connected to a police officer who was allowed to keep driving after a medical condition emerged, and who then was involved in two crashes — one resulting in a death. The report raises questions about why the officer returned to driving duties despite the known medical issue, but does not detail the settlement amounts, the officer’s identity, or the specific medical condition involved. Key facts — including the timeline of the crashes and the terms of the settlements — are not spelled out in the available reporting.
What is the separate Phoenix case about?
ABC15’s reporting centers on Phoenix police officer Antonio Felix, who along with fellow officer Luis Vasquez Jr. was recently arrested and fired after allegedly conducting a violent “off the books traffic stop” in South Phoenix. Court documents show both men now face charges including kidnapping, aggravated assault, and tampering with physical evidence tied to that incident.
While reporting on that arrest, ABC15 found that Felix is also named in a separate civil lawsuit filed July 29, 2024, in Maricopa County Superior Court. That suit stems from an Aug. 23, 2023 crash in which Felix, driving his marked police SUV, allegedly tried to pass another vehicle by crossing double yellow lines into oncoming traffic on South 1st Street near East Jefferson Street, then merged back and collided with a car driven by a man working as an Uber driver at the time.
How do the two sides describe the crash?
The Uber driver’s account, per the lawsuit, says he saw Felix’s SUV approaching without emergency lights on before the collision. Felix’s version, recorded in the Phoenix PD crash report, says he was going about 25 mph when the other car pulled toward parking bays, then swung wide and attempted a U-turn in front of him; the other driver, in this account, said he was moving about 7 mph when Felix passed him on the left and struck his car. The other driver was cited for an unsafe midblock turn. He was taken to Banner University Medical Center as a precaution and was later listed in stable, non-life-threatening condition, with some testing still pending at the time. The city of Phoenix has denied the lawsuit’s allegations and states it does not believe the other driver was injured.
What does the lawsuit seek and where does it stand?
The suit, filed as a Tier 1 case (meaning claimed damages are $50,000 or less), seeks compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and general damages. The city and Felix, represented by the Phoenix City Attorney’s Office, filed their formal answer in September 2024. An arbitration hearing is scheduled for Sept. 18, 2026, at a Phoenix law office. The driver, who spoke to ABC15 but declined to appear on camera, said he feels the city is pressuring him to settle the case quickly.
Why does this matter now?
The lawsuit’s relevance resurfaced because Felix was recently arrested and fired over the unrelated, more serious South Phoenix traffic-stop incident involving Vasquez, which drew criminal charges of kidnapping and aggravated assault. That case has prompted city leaders to respond to community concerns about officer conduct and accountability, with officials saying they don’t want anyone in the community who has been victimized to be denied justice. The Flagstaff case, meanwhile, points to a separate but related theme playing out across Arizona police departments: scrutiny over how agencies handle officers with known health or conduct issues who remain in driving or patrol roles, particularly after crashes with serious consequences.
What’s still unknown?
The 12 News report on Flagstaff is thin on specifics — it does not name the officer, describe the medical condition, give crash dates, or disclose settlement terms. The ABC15 report is more detailed on the Phoenix crash lawsuit but does not yet report an outcome, since arbitration is not scheduled until September 2026. Neither report clarifies whether the Flagstaff and Phoenix cases are connected beyond both involving on-duty police crashes under public scrutiny.
Sources
Featured photo: Marine 69-71 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)