Ex-cops pulled gun pranks, stole gun from scene of a traffic fatality

If screenwriters need material for another Super Troopers sequel, they might want to look into the Gila River Police Department.

On Wednesday, the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, known as AZPOST, opened investigations into three former Gila River cops whose transgressions make for quite the rap sheet. One cop was busted for drunkenly driving an all-terrain vehicle through a park with kids around. Two others committed a litany of infractions, including pointing their firearms at each other as a joke.

AZPOST licenses all law enforcement officers in the state and is one of the few agencies in Arizona with the power to discipline police. The board’s principal task is certifying all officers across the state, but it also has the power to revoke or suspend the certifications of officers who demonstrate troubling behavior.

The 12-member board includes Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, two rural sheriffs, Phoenix City Councilmember Kevin Robinson and Ryan Thornell, director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.

In 2024, AZPOST opened 48 investigations into officers and punished 43 cops, including for putting the muzzle of a gun to a woman’s head, asking two high school girls when they lost their virginity, driving while under the influence, lying to superiors or investigators and needlessly handcuffing an 82-year-old lady.

During the board’s first meeting of 2025, it punished four current and former law enforcement officers from across Arizona while opening investigations into six others. Here are the notable developments from the meeting.

Gila River bad boys

The three former Gila River officers the board decided to investigate — Matthew Evanson, Orlando Ramirez and Zachary Torriente — all either resigned or were fired in 2024 for various reasons.

Ramirez was arrested on June 10 for DUI and reckless driving when he drove an ATV onto a basketball court and volleyball court at a community park “while children were occupying the area,” according to AZPOST compliance specialist Michelle Blanco. He also drove over sidewalks and ran over some bushes before he “got stuck in a sand volleyball court,” according to witnesses who followed him home.

At home, Ramirez was questioned by officers and registered a blood alcohol level of .248, three times the legal limit. He was fired a few weeks later. On Sept. 12, he agreed to a plea for one count of reckless driving.

Evanson and Torriente made something of a tag team of misconduct. They somewhat frequently pointed guns at each other, and in at least one instance, Torriente pointed his gun at Evanson, took a picture and sent it to Evanson. Cochise County Sheriff and AZPOST Chair Mark Dannels said it was “alarming” that the gun issue was not investigated criminally.

Torriente also tested positive at work for marijuana and stole a gun from the scene of a traffic fatality he investigated, according to the department. He was fired on Aug. 8. Evanson was caught lying about when he was working and about conducting traffic stops. He resigned in July.

Never mind

For 50 minutes, the board debated whether it made an error in suspending a Greenlee County sheriff’s deputy over a domestic violence incident, only for the debate to become moot when the deputy’s lawyer withdrew his appeal.

At a testy October meeting, the board suspended deputy Tomas Montoya for five months over a May 2022 incident with his wife. According to an administrative judge’s decision read at the meeting by Assistant Attorney General Mark Brachtl, Montoya threw a plate of food and pushed over a chair, reached out and grabbed his wife by the neck with both hands and shoved her into a kitchen countertop.

Though prosecuted for domestic violence and disorderly conduct, the local county attorney instead required Montoya to participate in educational counseling. AZPOST usually punishes domestic violence incidents with a two-year suspension by the board but let Montoya off with a lighter penalty in October.

Still, Montoya and lawyer Steve Serbalik requested a rehearing, claiming the board’s decision was unfairly made because it received a packet that “contained inflammatory, unproven allegations” against Montoya that the deputy had not been able to review. “The well was effectively poisoned,” Serbalik said Wednesday. “And to be clear, that was no fault of the board.”

Brachtl agreed that providing that packet to the board had been a mistake, but he argued that many of the board members did not read it and that most said it did not factor into their decision. Several board members also told Serbalik that they felt Montoya’s punishment might have been too lenient.

“I listened to the tape very carefully on the second go-around,” board member Leesa Weisz told Serbalik. “I heard several of the board members very clearly say that domestic violence is an automatic termination. And that’s my concern for Mr. Montoya going forward.”

Mesa Police Chief Ken Cost, who wasn’t on the board when Montoya was suspended, agreed that the five-month suspension was not long enough.

Montoya, who has already served the majority of his suspension, was also in the room but did not address the board. The board then went into executive session to discuss its legal options, only for Montoya to withdraw his appeal.

“The hope that my client and I have is what we said before: that this is the catalyst for change and that due process happens in the future,” Serbalik said.

Lying about what?

Strangely, former Phoenix police officer Byron Salazar received a more severe punishment from the board than Montoya had. Salazar had his certificate retroactively suspended for six months for lying about an injury.

In October 2023, a superior noticed Salazar had a healed laceration on his head. Salazar claimed he “hit his head on a rock” while hiking, according to Assistant Attorney General Joe Dylo. The next day, Salazar requested to meet with that superior and confessed: He had actually tripped on a laundry basket and hit his head on a piece of furniture at home. He added that he was embarrassed about how he got hurt.

Three weeks after that weird lie, Salazar resigned. The board received notice of the case only because Salazar quit.

Other punishments

Former Tempe police officer Adam Shipley caught a retroactive 12-month suspension for an extreme DUI while he was driving off-duty in December 2022. He resigned from the department on Jan. 10, 2024.

Former Tohono O’odham Nation officer Melvin Secundino landed a certification denial for three years. Secundino was an academy recruit in August 2024 when he was stopped by an Arizona Department of Public Safety patrol officer for using a suspended license plate. Secundido then lied about having car insurance, fessing up only when DPS officers said they’d call the insurance company.

AZPOST Executive Director Matt Giordano also told Phoenix New Times the board is likely to rehear the case of former Peoria police officer Alice Balandis in February. In October, the board revoked Balandis’ certification after she lied to investigators about a romantic relationship with a colleague who was investigating her conduct.