Two Phoenix police officers have been fired and arrested after conducting a violent, off-the-books traffic stop that went entirely unrecorded, and only came to light because a neighboring city’s officer stumbled onto the aftermath.
Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano announced that former officers Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez were taken into custody following a criminal investigation. Both face felony charges including aggravated assault, kidnapping, and tampering with physical evidence.
According to police reports and public statements from Chief Giordano, the stop was conducted completely outside standard protocol. Neither officer logged the encounter with dispatch. Neither activated their body-worn cameras. What happened in that gap was serious.
The male driver and female passenger reported that the officers smashed the vehicle’s window. Vasquez allegedly punched the driver in the face multiple times and threatened to shoot him. The female passenger was pulled from the car and handcuffed. Investigators confirmed a taser was deployed against the victims during the encounter. The male driver eventually managed to pull away and drive into neighboring Tempe, where he abandoned the car. The female passenger was released at the scene.
The incident unraveled when a Tempe police officer located the abandoned vehicle and ran the dispatch logs. Nothing came back. No surrounding law enforcement agency had been in pursuit of or involved with the car. When the officer made contact with the victims, the initial suspicion was that they had been targeted by people impersonating police.
The Phoenix PD has arrested former officers Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez Jr. on numerous charges. Police Chief Giordano announced the arrest and their firing from the department today. pic.twitter.com/IblePpoiiK
— Phoenix Police (@PhoenixPolice) August 23, 2026
“It was so far outside the bounds of our policies,” Chief Giordano said when describing his reaction to the allegations.
What confirmed official police involvement was Automatic Vehicle Locator data; AVL tracking on the city-issued police vehicle placed it directly at the scene at the time of the assault.
Felix, an eight-year veteran of the department, and Vasquez, a nine-year veteran, were formally terminated before their arrests. Vasquez was released following initial processing. Felix remained held at the Lower Buckeye Jail.
Both have court dates scheduled as the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office moves forward with formal prosecution. The department’s internal audit and broader investigation remain active.
