Two former Tucson cops appeared before the state agency that oversees law enforcement officers, and one of them was sanctioned, officials said.
Former Pima County sheriffโs Sgt. Ramon De La Torre accepted an agreement with the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board on Wednesday, said spokeswoman Sandy Sierra.
The board suspended De La Torreโs peace officer certification, effective from December 2013 to December 2016, Sierra said.
De La Torre retired in December 2013, and when his suspension ends, his state certification will have lapsed, Sierra said.
In December 2013, De La Torre was hunting with his father during his free time when he shot what he believed was a whitetail deer, AZPOST documents show.
Once he got a closer look at the deer, he realized it was a mule deer. De La Torre had a hunting license for whitetail deer but not for mule deer.
De La Torre reported the incident to the Arizona Department of Game and Fish, but told the officer that his 83-year-old father shot a deer and without the proper hunting tags, according to AZPOST documents.
When he interviewed with a wildlife officer, De La Torre said he decided to โturn his dad in because he was raised to try to do the right thing,โ according to the documents.
De La Torreโs father later admitted that he was not the one who shot the deer. Only when confronted with a written statement by his father did De La Torre confirm he shot the deer and asked his father to take the blame, the documents show.
Three days after the incident, De La Torre retired.
The board decided not to take action against former Marana police Officer Jerry Brei, who retired from the department after he allowed a suspect to escape from his custody, Sierra said.
In January 2013, Brei conducted a warrant check on two men he pulled over for a traffic stop, AZPOST documents show.
One of the men had an extraditable felony warrant for a Colorado parole violation, but told Brei he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Brei called for assistance from an officer trained in dealing with mental health issues, but then allowed the man to leave without arresting him, according to AZPOST documents.
Brei told internal affairs investigators that because the warrant wasnโt for a violent felony, he didnโt believe he โreleased somebody dangerous into the community.โ
In November, Brei arrested a man who was declined by the Pima County jail for medical reasons. After the suspect was cleared by a local hospital, Brei handcuffed the man and walked him to the patrol car, AZPOST documents show.
While Brei was unlocking the passenger side of his patrol car, the man, who was standing outside Breiโs field of vision, was able to remove the handcuffs and fled the scene, according to the documents.
An internal-affairs investigation found that Breiโs actions demonstrated a โdereliction of duty,โ documents show. He retired before the department recommended he be fired.
