Two Fired Phoenix Officers Charged Over Violent, Unreported Traffic Stop Bond Out of Jail

Coverage spread: 4 sources — 4 unrated

Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.

Where they agree

Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix were fired and criminally charged over an unreported Aug. 5 traffic stop in south Phoenix.
Neither officer activated his body camera or reported the stop to dispatch as required.
The officers allegedly used excessive force, including tasing, punching and threatening the couple at gunpoint, then left the woman stranded roadside.
Both officers bonded out of jail, Vasquez on Sunday and Felix on Monday, while the criminal case continues.

Where they differ

AZFamily provides the most detailed breakdown of the charges, victims’ account, and the officers’ service histories, including Vasquez’s prior officer-involved shooting.
FOX 10 emphasizes the forensic and digital evidence — taser download data and GPS tracking — used to corroborate the case in the absence of body-camera footage.
ABC15 focuses on its own on-the-ground reporting, including confronting Felix as he left jail and the chief’s sit-down interview with its investigative reporter.
ABC15’s south Phoenix community piece centers on distrust between police and residents and calls from local leaders and a state senator for broader systemic accountability, a theme other outlets don’t explore.

Two former Phoenix police officers, Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix, both 31, have bonded out of jail after being fired and criminally charged over a violent, off-the-books traffic stop on Aug. 5 in south Phoenix. Prosecutors say the officers stopped a couple, never reported the stop or turned on their body cameras, then tased, punched and held the pair at gunpoint before abandoning the woman on the roadside at night without her phone.

What exactly happened during the stop?

According to court documents cited by AZFamily and FOX 10, Vasquez and Felix pulled over a car carrying a man and a woman near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road, claiming they suspected an impaired driver in a high-crime area. The officers say the vehicle’s registered owner didn’t match who was driving. What followed, according to prosecutors, was a struggle in which the officers crashed into the victims’ car, tried forcing open the doors, and smashed the driver’s side window. The male victim broke free and drove off during the chaos. The officers then allegedly released the woman from her handcuffs — but not before one of them warned her, “He’s probably going to get shot,” and told her, “We know where you live now.” She was left on the side of the road at night without her phone.

A Deputy County Attorney told a court hearing that Vasquez punched the male victim repeatedly in the head, face, eyes, nose and groin, broke the car window to gain entry, and pointed his service weapon at the victims while counting down from three and threatening to shoot. Felix is accused of tasing both victims multiple times, including while the woman was being restrained in a patrol car. Because neither officer activated a body camera, investigators instead relied on forensic data from Felix’s taser — which logged six safety activations and 29 electrical discharge events — along with GPS tracking data to corroborate the victims’ account. The taser pattern matched burn marks found on the victims.

What charges do the officers face?

Both men face six felony counts each, including aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, felony assault of a bound or restrained person, threatening and intimidating, criminal damage, hindering prosecution, and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors argued in court that the pair pose a danger to victims and the community and are a flight risk. Court paperwork shows the officers gave brief statements before their arrest, with Vasquez reportedly saying he failed to report the stop “out of fear of the consequence of the multitude of policy violations.” No explanation has been offered for why the stop wasn’t called in, why body cameras weren’t activated, or why the woman was left stranded.

Who are the officers and what happens to their past cases?

Vasquez, an Army veteran, had served on the Phoenix force for eight years and was previously involved in a February 2025 officer-involved shooting for which he was cleared of wrongdoing. Felix had nine years with the department. Both were assigned to patrol at the South Mountain Precinct. Legal analyst Susie Charbel, a former prosecutor, defense attorney and judge, said she’s never seen a case quite like it and warned it “could go very deep.” The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is now combing its records for any active cases where the two are listed as material witnesses, since their credibility has been badly damaged — meaning prosecutors may have to drop cases that rely on their testimony.

How did the department and community respond?

Vasquez bonded out of jail on Sunday, followed by Felix on Monday; ABC15 cameras captured Felix leaving without answering questions, while a neighbor said Vasquez didn’t actually live at the address on his court paperwork. Police Chief Matthew Giordano, who fired both men, called their conduct “egregious criminal conduct” while on duty and sat down separately with ABC15 and FOX 10 to discuss the case. The department is now auditing traffic stops and body-camera usage department-wide. In south Phoenix, community and faith leaders, including Dr. Warren Stewart Sr. of First Institutional Baptist Church and State Senator Catherine Miranda, said the incident deepened long-standing distrust of police in the area but praised the chief’s swift response. Miranda said she wants a broader audit of “systemic issues” and plans to reach out personally to the victims.

What’s still unresolved?

The criminal case against both former officers is ongoing, and it’s not yet clear how many past arrests or prosecutions involving them could be affected. Investigators have not explained why the stop went unreported for as long as it did or detailed what disciplinary or policy failures allowed it to happen before now.

Sources

Featured photo: Marine 69-71 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)