Former Glendale police sergeant arrested in Oregon

A former Glendale police sergeant is being held without bond in an Oregon jail after he reportedly assaulted his live-in girlfriend, records show.

Brent Thomas, who resigned last November amid an internal investigation, is also accused of continuing to possess firearms despite an order of protection filed by his estranged wife that bars him from doing so.

Last summer, an anonymous caller reported Thomas, 44, had abused his wife. The couple was in the midst of a divorce when the allegations surfaced. Thomas's wife said he had abused her for years, and shared pictures of her injuries.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office decided earlier this year not to file charges against Thomas.

Thomas, who spent 14 years as a Glendale officer, recently moved to Oregon.

Lincoln City, Ore. police responded to Thomas's new home early Sunday after a caller reported he had assaulted his girlfriend. They arrived to find his 27-year-old girlfriend's face covered in blood and her eyes swollen, according to a probable cause statement filed in Lincoln County Circuit Court.

The woman said the two had been arguing when Thomas told her to leave because their "relationship was not going to work."

He reportedly grabbed the woman by the throat when she tried to get money from a safe and later punched her "multiple times in the face and head," according to court filings.

She was treated at a hospital and later released.

Police responding to the couple's home also discovered dozens of loaded firearms including AR-15 rifles and semiautomatic handguns.

A July 2010 order of protection bars Thomas from possessing guns. Police allege Thomas has continued to operate a website that sells firearms and accessories despite the order.

In the hours after the reported assault, police struggled to find Thomas. A gun was noted to be missing.

Police later arrested Thomas along a Benton County highway, about 75 miles away.

Officers found $400,000 cash in Thomas's trunk but not the handgun, according to a court filing.

Thomas was arrested on suspicion of 71 counts of contempt of court for possessing firearms in his home, as well as felony assault, menacing, strangulation and harassment.

On Monday, a Lincoln County judge denied bail for Thomas after prosecutors argued he had failed to abide by the rules of the protective order, fled his home after the alleged assault and removed a handgun before he left.

A Monday court filing by prosecutors also cited Thomas's training as Glendale SWAT officer.

An attorney representing Thomas has previously denied abuse allegations against him.

Thomas had no major disciplinary problems and good performance reviews before the July 2010 call which spurred a criminal and internal investigation of Thomas.

Glendale police have said Thomas was relieved of enforcement duties immediately after the abuse allegations surfaced. He was ordered to return his department weapons and told he would be reassigned to administrative tasks during the investigation.

He never returned to work and chose not to speak to police investigators, a spokesman said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/04/12/20110412glendale-police-sergeant-arrested-oregon-brk.html

Bar Patron: Bouncers, Scottsdale Officer Used Excessive Force

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- A Scottsdale man says a Scottsdale police officer and bouncers at Jackrabbit Supper Club used excessive force when they subdued him during a bar brawl in July 2010.

Surveillance videotape from the Old Town Scottsdale nightclub shows (victim's name removed by request, hereafter referred to as ***) standing on the sidelines when the brawl began outside the bar.

"I wasn't trying to fight back," said ***.

The tape shows *** reach up to as a bouncer turns toward him.

The tape then shows two bouncers grab *** and slam him into a wall.

After turning him around, a Scottsdale officer shows up and repeatedly strikes *** with his baton.

*** is off screen during several of the strikes.

"They were barbarians. Almost brutal," said *** of the incident.

A photograph taken afterward shows a large bruise covering a portion of ***'s right leg.

"The manner in which they acted was absolutely uncalled for," said ***.

Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesperson, said the surveillance tape tells a different story about how *** reacted to the brawl.

"He lunged towards one of the doorman and stuck out his arm, like who knows what he was going to do," said Sgt. Clark.

Sgt Clark said the Scottsdale police officer repeatedly reported that he repeatedly asked *** to get on the ground before striking him with his baton.

"The video shows that he was trying to get away. If he was doing as the office asked him to do and commanded him to do there probably wouldn't have been a confrontation," said Clark.

The courts will decide what really happened during the incident.

*** was charged with disorderly conduct and failing to obey a police officer and will appear in court early next year.

*** also plans to file a notice of claim against Scottsdale police and Jackrabbit Supper Club for $3.5 million dollars.

After CBS 5 contacted Scottsdale police about the incident, Clark asked internal affairs investigators to review the videotape of the officer hitting ***.

http://www.kpho.com/news/26253162/detail.html

Late Timing of Detention Officer's DUI Arrest Questioned

Maricopa County Sheriff's detention officer Adrian Salazar Guzman

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - A 26-year-old woman died in an accident caused by a suspected drunk driver -- and that driver, a Maricopa County Sheriff's detention officer, wasn't arrested until two weeks after the crime.

Adrian Salazar Guzman had a blood alcohol level of nearly 3 times the legal limit. It has many people asking why his arrest took so long.

Guzman has been charged with negligent homicide and several DUI-related charges in the death of 26-year-old Alisha Trejo. Court documents allege he ran a stop sign and hit Trejo, who was on a motorcycle stopped at the Goodyear intersection.

Her leg was amputated as a result of the impact and she died instantly.

At the hospital, Guzman admitted he had been drinking since 10 a.m. and felt "buzzed." A blood alcohol test taken by nurses at 2 a.m. registered at .225. At 4:23 a.m., DPS procured a search warrant and took another blood test, and the result was .14. The legal limit in Arizona is .08.

The accident happened on Oct. 16. But Guzman wasn't arrested until Oct. 29, nearly two weeks later. We've been trying to stay on top of this, but Goodyear Police has been very uncooperative with our questions and gave us the runaround.

FOX 10 wanted to know if this was standard procedure for Goodyear Police.

We called John Rowan with the department, and he says, Guzman's case was handled properly. When we asked him whether or not Guzman was given preferential treatment because he is a detention officer, the phone call was ended abruptly. We tried calling him back several times thereafter, and he didn't return the call.

It's a question that Alisha's grieving family also wants to know.

We called two law agencies in town to ask them what they think about the situation. One said that if a person was in the same position as Guzman, it is possible that he could have been released the same day. The agency would have slapped the driver with a DUI charge, opened an investigation, and then later on added a homicide charge in court.

The second agency said there is no way that guy should've been walking. The agency said it could take up to two weeks to get an accurate blood alcohol level read, but if a suspected drunk driver killed someone, it's just too serious. That driver should be taken to jail and not let out on the streets.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/late-timing-of-dui-arrest-questioned-11-3-2010

Ex-Glendale police officer to temporarily lose his badge

Glendale police officer Daniel Arreola

A former Glendale police officer accused of turning in incorrect timesheets and sending offensive messages to other officers will not wear an Arizona police badge for almost two years.

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board decided to suspend Daniel Arreola's peace-officer certification until late 2011 in a Wednesday hearing.

THE INVESTIGATION

Arreola resigned in September 2009 after a Glendale police internal investigation found he had falsely claimed hours on 11 dates when he was actually on vacation, compensatory time or sick leave. The investigation also found the three-year officer sent sexually and racially offensive messages to other officers on a computer in his police cruiser.

The police board, which provides training and oversight to Arizona police, approved a consent agreement to suspend Arreola's certification to serve as an officer in the state. Fellow ex-Glendale officer Adam Fisher voluntarily relinquished his certification last October after a Glendale police probe also accused him of falsifying timesheets and sending offensive messages, among other allegations.

OFFICER'S RESPONSE

Arreola, who attended the Wednesday hearing, declined to comment. In a letter previously sent to Glendale Police Chief Steve Conrad and the police board, the former officer wrote that some of the timesheet errors cited in the investigation shouldn't be upheld. He said the errors occurred either because he did not complete the form himself or he was confused by the format of the timesheet.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/10/25/20101025glendale-police-officer-temporarily-loses-badge.html