The Democratic nominee for constable of Precinct 9 is asking a Pima County commissioner to lift a protective order against him, saying its filing was politically motivated and unfairly violates his right to carry a gun.
George Camacho, who has not yet been elected but is uncontested on the Nov. 3 county ballot, is not allowed to carry a firearm for one year under Superior Court Commissioner Gilbert Rosales’ Sept. 17 injunction against harassment. No Republicans are running for the seat, which pays a capped salary of $67,000 per year.
The recent order against Camacho is the second time this year he has has been held accountable for allegedly harassing or bullying the same woman. At a hearing Tuesday, attorney Jacob Amaru asked for Camacho’s order to be lifted, but Commissioner Dean Christoffel rescheduled arguments until 3 p.m. Nov. 17.
“My client was prepared and ready to have his injunction heard today, and the hearing was continued because the plaintiff wanted more time,” Amaru said. “It is clear that she and her attorney are engaged in a smear campaign to undermine the results of the primary, which they lost at the ballot box.”
Carrying a firearm is not a requirement for being a constable, a job that includes the serving and enforcement of eviction notices as well as other civil and criminal papers, including protective orders.
Camacho, who won the seat against incumbent Joe Ferguson in the August primary, has declined to comment on his April firing from the constable’s office, where he worked as a special staff assistant.
“Pima County has already investigated Mr. Camacho and decided that he needed to be fired,” said the woman’s attorney, Stephen Portell. “He was fired for his own misconduct, not some conspiracy in political circles.”
In the most recent incident, Camacho was riding his bicycle the wrong way on Irvington Road on Sept. 9, a police report shows, when he collided with a car driven by the same woman he was found to have harassed earlier this year.
Camacho told police at the scene that she hit him with her car, but police told him that was not possible. Camacho hit the passenger’s side door as the woman, who was driving to work, turned right.
“The recent incident is a bizarre escalation against my client,” Portell said. “People who have worked with Mr. Camacho are afraid of him. It is my hope that more of them come forward in the next few weeks.”
The current order will need to be removed before Camacho can be issued a weapon for his job, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry wrote in a memorandum to the presiding constable, Kristen Randall. On Tuesday, Huckelberry asked Randall to find out what the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board recommends about Camacho’s situation.
Camacho, who said previously that his firing and the recent protection order are politically driven, did not respond to requests for further comment Tuesday afternoon.
He worked for the constable’s office for 18 years before he was placed on paid administrative leave in January while being investigated on five allegations of bullying and harassment of the same female colleague involved in this incident. The county substantiated two of the five claims, and informal discipline and mediation was recommended in a report released March 13.
Camacho remained on leave until April 6, when he announced his candidacy for Precinct 9. He was fired April 22 after a unanimous vote, with two abstentions, by the 10 constables in the office. Randall gave him the opportunity to resign, according to his termination letter.
The Arizona Constables Organization is aware of the situation, said Ron Williams, its president. Williams said all newly elected constables will be voted on for acceptance into the association in January 2021. Williams said to his knowledge, they have never had a situation where a newly elected constable has an order of protection against him.
“Our bylaws state that the membership body determines who is voted in as a member,” Williams said. “The Arizona Constables Association has also expelled members in the past for violating our code of conduct.”
In an unrelated matter involving a local constable, the county’s Board of Supervisors last month suspended Oscar Vasquez without pay until the end of the year.
This followed the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board recommending discipline for Vasquez for alleged violations that included damaging county vehicles, speeding, urinating in public and arguing with members of the public.
Vasquez, in a letter to the training board, apologized for his actions and said he has a urological condition that makes it difficult for him to wait if there’s not a bathroom available.
