T0lleson Police Department
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In September 2024, a Tolleson police officer working as a school resource officer at Tolleson Union High School punched a student in the face and kneed him in the chest while detaining him. In response, the school district barred the officer from campus and later removed all Tolleson officers from SRO positions, sparking a battle among elected city officials.
Now the student at the center of the conflict — Alejandro Vasquez Romero, who was 16 at the time of the incident — is suing just about everyone else involved. Among the defendants to the suit, filed on June 19 in Maricopa County Superior Court, are the city of Tolleson, the Tolleson Police Department, the Tolleson Union High School District, the high school and the police officers involved. That includes former Tolleson officer Eric Hendrix, who hit and kneed Romero.
“Our client is a young man who had the courage to stand up for himself and seek accountability through the courts,” wrote Caitlin Engstrand, Romero’s attorney, in a statement to Phoenix New Times. “This case is not about revenge. It is about ensuring that every student is treated with dignity, respect, and appropriate care by the adults entrusted with their safety.”
Romero was arrested on a Friday after he’d gotten into a loud, verbal argument with his ex-girlfriend on school property. Earlier that week, the former couple had slapped each other during an argument on campus, and the girl’s mother had filed a report with the Phoenix Police Department over threatening voice messages Romero had made.
After the heated Friday morning argument, Romero had been sent to the school’s main student services building. As he exited the building into the school’s courtyard, Hendrix and a teacher were escorting Romero’s ex-girlfriend to the same office.
According to Hendrix’s statement in the police report, Hendrix put his hand on Romero to stop him “to conduct an investigation,” but Romero “smacked his hand away from him and attempted to walk past.” Hendrix said he grabbed Romero to prevent him from approaching the girl. However, the security camera video shows Hendrix almost immediately pushing Romero toward the exterior courtyard wall before the scuffle ensues. Neither Hendrix nor Tolleson officer Diana Rivas, who helped Hendrix arrest Romero, had activated their body-worn cameras to capture the scuffle.
Hendrix punched Romero in the face with a “closed fist” and conducted a “knee strike for compliance,” according to the police report. Hendrix punched the student in the face again, kneed him in the stomach and wrapped his arms around his armpit and shoulder. Two other Tolleson police officers joined the scene to help Hendrix secure Romero on the ground, where he was handcuffed as Hendrix’s arm pressed down on his head. Before the fracas was over, Hendrix also put Romero in a headlock and kneed him again.
Another officer described seeing Hendrix and Romero “verbally sparring” and Hendrix pushing Romero’s head to turn to make him look away from him because Hendrix “believed he was going to spit on me,” according to Hendrix’s narrative in the police report. During this time, Hendrix delivered a “single knee strike to the belt-line area of the subject in custody.”
At this point, Hendrix’s supervisor, Sgt. Jondrigus Fisher, repeatedly directed Hendrix to stop and let go, according to body camera footage and the lawsuit, before removing Hendrix from the scene and escorting Romero to the patrol vehicle.
Shortly after Fisher replaced Hendrix, body-cam footage from other officers who arrived at the scene captured Romero yelling, “I’m suing your bitch ass!” as officers brought him inside the student services building.
Romero was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and ultimately pleaded to resisting arrest, according to the Tolleson Police Department.
‘Excessive, unwarranted and disproportionate’
According to Romero’s lawsuit and the police report, his wrist and face were injured in the scuffle with minor bleeding and a “penny sized contusion” near his left eye. He was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The suit alleges that Hendrix used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, violated department policies and used a level of force that was “excessive, unwarranted and disproportionate to any threat presented by Alejandro.” He’s seeking financial damages to cover medical costs, loss of income and enjoyment of life and for the physical and mental pain he’s suffered as a result.
Hendrix’s actions in this case have already been found to be “unwarranted” and “excessive” in a third-party investigative report conducted at the request of the Tolleson Union High School District. Following the altercation, district superintendent Jeremy Calles wanted Hendrix off campus. In public statements, the Tolleson Police Department defended Hendrix’s actions as justified and insisted that he stay on campus.
The department’s use-of-force investigation, which was obtained by New Times, found that Hendrix’s use of pushing and hand and knee strikes employed on Romero were within department policy prior to the student being restrained in handcuffs. However, Hendrix’s pushing of Romero’s face and knee strikes after he was restrained in handcuffs were found to be “outside of department policy,” according to the use-of-force investigation.
“It does not appear as though there is a valid reason to keep Romero from looking in Officer Hendrix’s direction,” Tolleson Assistant Chief of Police Jeff Grow wrote in the report. “With no officer safety or otherwise lawful reason to apply force to Romero’s face, I agree that his action and use of force is unjustified and a violation of the Department’s Use of Force Policy.”
Tolleson Police Chief Rudy Mendoza recommended that Hendrix receive “coaching and verbal counseling” regarding his use of force, specifically “emphasizing the unnecessary nature of pushing someone’s face,” he wrote in the report. Mendoza also recommended that Hendrix receive counseling on the importance of activating his body-worn camera.
In early February 2025, after Hendrix brought a different student to the ground to arrest him on campus, the school’s principal told him he was no longer welcome and removed him from his position, according to court documents. Four days later, Hendrix spoke in front of the Tolleson City Council, claiming that he was in a “hostile work environment” at Tolleson Union and had experienced “continuous harassment from the school district and the superintendent pressuring me to leave the high school.”
The September 2024 incident at Tolleson Union and its fallout have strained the relationship between the city of Tolleson, its police department and the school district. Last year, Tolleson police officers stopped serving as school resource officers in district schools. Instead, the district began using officers from other jurisdictions, including Phoenix, Avondale and Glendale, in their schools, Calles told New Times last June.
Neither the city of Tolleson nor the Tolleson Union High School District responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit. The Tolleson Police Department declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
“Students deserve to feel safe at school,” wrote Engstrand, a trial attorney for National Injury Attorneys. “When serious allegations are raised, they deserve to be thoroughly investigated. Our client’s willingness to come forward demonstrates remarkable courage, and we are proud to stand beside him as he seeks justice.”
