Phoenix police officer suspended for saying ‘Fuck Pinal cops’

Phoenix police officer Christopher Hendershott must have been hosting a rager of a party in April 2022, because his neighbors called the cops on him and his wife. A testy interaction with Pinal County Sheriff’s deputies resulted in his wife being arrested and Hendersott taking to Facebook to express his rage with his local law enforcement officers.

“Fuck Pinal cops,” he posted. “As a cop, hope everything bad happens to them.”

Hendershott was suspended for a week by the Phoenix Police Department for that incident, but last week, Arizona’s police certification board came down much harder. At its Nov. 19 meeting, the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, which licenses all law enforcement officers in the state, suspended Hendershott’s certification for six months.

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

The board opened an investigation into Hendershott in August. At the November meeting, the board’s staff said that Hendershott had allegedly texted a superior of the sheriff’s deputies to tell her to call him “or I’m gonna beat his ass.” Hendershott also admitted to taunting the deputies and told them he made more money than they did. That trolling was probably true — he made $243,321 in 2024 and $221,424 in 2023, according to city records.

Hendershott appeared at the November meeting to advocate on his own behalf.

“What happened was on me, off-duty or not. My words and behaviors that night were out of line for a police officer,” Hendershott told the board. “I thought a lot about how my off-duty (behavior) reflects the badge and the people I work with. I regret what I said and how I acted.”

There was at least some talk of going easier on the Phoenix cop. Before the vote to suspend Hendershott, Chief Deputy Attorney General Bill Mundell asked about the basis for a six-month suspension, which he said “seems pretty harsh.”

Assistant Attorney General Mark Brachtl responded that the board’s reach extends “into an officer’s personal life — into their off-duty conduct” and that Hendershott had told the deputies he was a police officer. Cassidy Bacon, Hendershott’s attorney, claimed that the deputies asked him if he was a law enforcement officer.

Mohave County Sheriff Doug Schuster said that Hendershott’s behavior “tarnishes the badge” and supported the suspension.

“Once you go online and you diminish law enforcement as a law enforcement officer, you’re certainly going against what we’re trying to repair over the years,” Schuster said during the discussion over Henderschott’s case. “This did not make us look good.”

The board voted unanimously in favor of the six-month suspension.

Other suspensions and investigations

So far this year, the board has punished 42 current and former law enforcement officers from across Arizona for various violations, including but not limited to: driving an ATV through a playground with kids around while extremely drunk, keeping drugs taken as evidence from a crime scene, driving while intoxicated, having sex in cop cars while on duty, being involved in domestic violence incidents, using unnecessary force, lying to superiors and attempted sexual assault.

The board has also opened investigations into 34 officers this year. While some have resulted in punishment, many investigations remain ongoing.

Also at the November meeting, the board voted to suspend the certifications of five other officers. One of those was Phoenix cop Jose Negron, who was hit with a one-year suspension that will expire on Nov. 13, 2026. Negron used flashing red and blue lights on his personal vehicle while going through an intersection in Maricopa. A driver on the road called local police and reported reckless driving. 

Negron told officers who stopped him that he turned on the lights to avoid a collision. However, surveillance footage from the intersection showed there were no cars near him.

“I understand the seriousness of the lapse in judgment,” Negron told the board. “This process has reinforced to me that honesty and accountability are nonnegotiable parts of being a peace officer.”

Also penalized were:

• La Paz County Sheriff’s deputy Ezequiel Benitez-Maldonado, who was suspended nine months for pushing his mother-in-law
• San Carlos Apache Tribal Police officer Keanu U. Zacarias, who was suspended 12 months for lying about being late to a shift
• Former Cocopah police officer Juan J. Rodriguez, whose certification was permanently denied after the board learned about his 2019 arrest in Yuma for taking thousands of dollars in coins from the house of a woman who had died

The board also opened investigations into six current or former officers.

That included Scottsdale cop Amanda Carey. According to AZPOST compliance specialist Tim Shay, the Scottsdale Police Department suspended Carey for 20 hours after she improperly used the Arizona Criminal Justice Information System database to run the license plate of a truck she thought might belong to her jealous ex-boyfriend. 

Carey’s case is seemingly related to that of former Scottsdale Sgt. Derok Roach, whose certification was previously suspended by the board for a year after he admitted to having sex in police vehicles on various occasions. During an internal investigation into Carey, she told investigators she had a two-year relationship with Roach during the same period. She also filed a restraining order against him at that time. However, it’s unclear if Roach’s indiscretions involved Carey or another woman.

Some of the other current or former officers who now face investigations are:

• Former Goodyear officer Chad Matthews, who drove at excessive speeds on 37 occasions, investigators found. In six instances, he was busting ass at over 110 miles per hour; in four additional instances, he topped 120 mph. He resigned before he could be fired.
• Former Colorado River Indian Tribe Fish and Game Department employee Steven E. Hooper Sr., who said during a recertification polygraph that he masturbated in a restroom at work on several occasions during breaks and that he had twice videotaped himself having sex with his girlfriend without her knowledge. He was fired by the tribal department on Jan. 31.
• Former Oro Valley officer Joshua Klaus, who gave out a DUI to a man and paid for his Uber home because the man had only $26 in cash. Klaus admitted to accepting cash from the man later.
• Casa Grande officer Edgar A. Mejia, who was arrested for aggravated assault, disorderly conduct and criminal damage after the mother of his child claimed he assaulted her with a baby monitor while in his car before throwing it out the window and onto the highway. Compliance specialist William Caldwell said friends later noticed “swelling and bruising on her face and right eye, redness and blood in her right eye and a cut with dried blood on her nose.” The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute.