Sex, lies and no probable cause: Probes start on 5 Arizona cops

Arizona's law enforcement disciplinary board opened five new misconduct cases involving current and former cops from across the state, including an officer who allegedly lied about sleeping with the department’s internal investigator tasked with conducting inquiries into her work.

During its May 15 meeting, the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board also voted against opening a case for an officer who allegedly failed to establish probable cause before searching a man he alleged was trespassing — a misstep the officer was previously warned to avoid, according to a board compliance analyst who spoke at the meeting.

As of its May 15 meeting, AZPOST has opened 30 investigations into officers and punished 22 this year. The agency is one of the few in the state with the power to discipline police. Its 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.

So far this year, the board has punished an officer who put the muzzle of his gun to a woman’s head and another who asked two high school girls when they lost their virginity, among other incidents.

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

Internal investigation gets too internal

In March 2022, a Peoria police sergeant — referred to only as A.S. during the board meeting — was assigned to investigate Peoria officer Alice Balandis for her involvement in two officer-involved shootings. The sergeant learned a bit more about Balandis than he was supposed to.

Between March 24 and April 27 of that year, while internal investigations were still active, Balandis and A.S. “developed a personal relationship that evolved from professional to personal to romantic,” according to AZPOST compliance specialist Mark Post. Word of their dalliance spread, leading to another investigation, this time into A.S.

Investigators interviewed Balandis twice, Post told the board, and asked her whether A.S. had ever spent the night at her residence. In response, Balandis asked whether the question was relevant and did not provide a substantive answer.

Later, during a demotion hearing for A.S., Balandis testified that the two went to a bar on April 23 and shared a hotel room that night. She said they became intimate and that A.S. attended her birthday party the next day. A.S. then testified that he stayed with Balandis at her residence six times between April 10 and April 27 — a much longer period of involvement than Balandis had suggested.

When asked about her inconsistent testimony by internal investigators, Balandis “offered various explanations ranging from she forgot to she was dealing with significant personal life stressors at the time to not seeing the relevance in the investigator’s question.”

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office investigated Balandis for perjury but declined to prosecute. Balandis resigned before she could be fired. Peoria police declined to tell Phoenix New Times when Balandis quit.

No probable cause, no problem

One police error that didn’t draw an investigation involved Officer Isaias Reyes of the Phoenix Police Department. Reyes failed to establish probable cause before conducting a search on Sept. 13, 2022, according to both the department and AZPOST analyst Mark Deltenre.

According to Deltenre’s presentation to the board, Reyes asked for consent to search the bag of a man he saw near a “no trespassing” sign at a convenience store close to 51st Avenue and Interstate 10. The man did not consent, but Reyes told him if he didn’t allow the search, he would go to jail for trespassing.

During the forced search, the man threw a container of fentanyl pills at Reyes and tried to run away before being handcuffed and arrested. The man was booked for aggravated assault, resisting arrest and possession of narcotics. It's not clear if he was ever charged. When contacted by New Times, Phoenix police referred questions about the man's case to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which did not respond.

There was one problem, though. Employees at the convenience store did not contact police regarding the man’s presence, which is a requirement for making a trespassing arrest.

“He clearly did not have probable cause to search,” Deltenre told the AZPOST board at the May 15 meeting. “That’s what Phoenix PD sustained and sent it to us.”

This wasn’t a one-off mistake for Reyes. Before the incident, he’d received supervisory training and a formal warning about establishing probable cause prior to searching anyone, “along with other related issues,” Deltenre told the board. Reyes also had received previous training regarding posted "no trespassing" signs at businesses.

Despite that, the board voted unanimously to close the case. Phoenix police told New Times that Reyes was issued an 80-hour suspension as a result of the incident.

“I think we have to have a little discretion,” said Mark Dannels, Cochise County sheriff and AZPOST board chair. “We have to respect the work of internal processes.”

Other new investigations

At its May meeting, AZPOST also opened investigations into three officers:

• Anthony Taylor of the Prescott Police Department. Taylor allegedly punched his fiancée in the face during an altercation on Dec. 22, 2023. According to an AZPOST compliance specialist, witnesses said they did not see the violence but heard a commotion coming from a bedroom in their home, after which Taylor’s fiancée emerged with visible injuries on her face and blood coming from her nose. Taylor was arrested and charged with one count of domestic violence, then fired from the Prescott force. His case is ongoing in Yavapai County Superior Court.
  
  
• Geoffrey Gomez of the Payson Police Department. Gomez took a month of vacation in February 2024, supposedly to help his father with a construction job. However, several other officers allegedly heard Gomez say he was going to attend an academy training in California. Gomez resigned on March 29, before he could be fired for dishonesty. No one at the board meeting knew whether or not Gomez was already working as an officer outside Arizona.
  
  
• Brian Alvarado of the Phoenix Police Department. Alvarado allegedly submitted time sheets in October 2022 that showed him working seven more hours than he actually did. He received a 40-hour suspension and remains employed by the department.