Coverage spread: 2 sources — 2 unrated
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Former officers Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix were fired and arrested after an Aug. 5 traffic stop in which they allegedly used excessive force, didn’t activate body cameras, and never filed a report.
- The City of Phoenix released disciplinary records on Sept. 2 showing both officers had prior histories of failing to file required reports or fully investigate incidents.
- Both men were assigned to the South Mountain Precinct — Vasquez for eight years, Felix for nine — and had each been reprimanded or counseled multiple times before this incident.
- Police officials framed the record release as an effort at transparency amid concerns about public trust.
Where they differ
- ABC15 provides far more granular detail from the records, including specific figures like Vasquez’s 15 use-of-force incidents and 14 commendations, and Felix’s 12 use-of-force incidents, five commendations, and a separate lawsuit over another crash.
- FOX 10 emphasizes broader institutional reaction, quoting Councilman Kevin Robinson on the chief’s transparency push and ASU professor Michael Scott on department-wide patterns of rule-breaking officers.
- FOX 10 alone reports Councilwoman Anna Hernandez’s call for a wider investigation into the South Mountain Precinct, referencing past structural reforms about 12 years ago.
- ABC15 notes a detail FOX 10 omits: both officers had received positive supervisor evaluations just days before the alleged violent incident.
The City of Phoenix has released hundreds of pages of personnel records for two former police officers, Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix, showing both had prior discipline for failing to file reports and follow procedure before they were fired and arrested over a violent, unreported traffic stop on Aug. 5 near 19th Avenue and Broadway.
What happened during the traffic stop?
On Aug. 5, Vasquez and Felix allegedly used excessive force and pulled weapons on two civilians during a traffic stop, then never activated their body cameras and never filed a report on the incident. Detectives established probable cause and arrested both men on Aug. 22 on charges including kidnapping, aggravated assault and criminal damage. Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano fired both immediately after the arrests.
What do the newly released records show?
On Sept. 2, the city released more than 50 documents — some over 100 pages — detailing each officer’s disciplinary history. Both men worked out of the South Mountain Precinct: Vasquez for eight years, Felix for nine.
Vasquez’s file shows a 2025 written reprimand for failing to thoroughly investigate a collision and failing to properly activate his body camera — an echo of the conduct alleged in his arrest. That same year he was placed on leave after an officer-involved shooting later ruled within policy. Earlier records show a 2021 failure to issue a citation after a collision, which led to supervisory coaching, and four missed court appearances between 2021 and 2025. He had 15 documented use-of-force incidents on his record, not counting the August case, and had received 14 commendations during his career.
Felix’s file shows that in 2018, while still a trainee, he punched a suspect three times in the head and didn’t tell his training officer until they got back to the precinct to write the report. In 2025 he was reprimanded for failing to investigate and complete a report on a theft and threats call. This year, he failed to file a report on a missing-child call; that lapse would have led to discipline, but the case was still pending when he was fired. His record also lists three out-of-policy vehicle collisions between 2018 and 2022, three missed court appearances, a 2021 complaint about rudeness that led to communication coaching, and a lapse in completing required Arizona POST training requirements in 2024 due to industrial leave, which he later completed. He documented 12 use-of-force incidents and received five commendations between 2020 and 2022. He is also separately being sued over another patrol-car crash.
Despite these histories, both officers had received positive supervisor evaluations and commendations in the days just before the August incident.
Why did the department release these records?
Phoenix police said they released the files in the interest of transparency, acknowledging that officer misconduct like this can damage public trust. Councilman Kevin Robinson, a former assistant police chief, said Chief Giordano is pushing transparency because the public wants to know whether there were warning signs about these two officers.
Is this seen as an isolated case or a broader problem?
ASU criminology professor Michael Scott said departments typically have a small, often well-known group of officers who consistently operate outside guidelines. Councilwoman Anna Hernandez, who represents the South Mountain Precinct area, has called for a wider investigation into that precinct, drawing a comparison to structural changes forced on the department roughly 12 years ago.
What’s not yet known?
The records released so far document rule violations and reporting failures, but they don’t establish whether supervisors missed or overlooked warning signs, or whether other officers at the same precinct have similar patterns. Any findings from a broader precinct review, if one moves forward, have not yet been made public.
Sources
- FOX 10 Phoenix — Records detail past misconduct by Phoenix officers · Phoenix Police records reveal past discipline for fired officers
- ABC15 Arizona
Featured photo: Misterbobw (talk) via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)