Four former Southern Arizona police officers have been disciplined or are facing discipline after a review by Arizona’s law enforcement oversight board, officials said.
The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board voted last week to initiate proceedings against former Tucson police officer Pablo L. Camargo, who was fired last February after he was arrested on suspicion of extreme DUI, said board spokeswoman Sandy Sierra.
The board also accepted a disciplinary agreement with a former Oro Valley police officer to surrender his license and revoked state certifications of a former Bisbee police officer and former Cochise County deputy, Sierra said.
Without certification by the AZPOST, a person is ineligible to work as a law enforcement officer in Arizona.
Tucson Police Department
On Nov. 8, 2015, Camargo, a 19-year veteran of TPD, was stopped by an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper while driving with three passengers back to Tucson from a hockey game in Glendale, according to the records.
Camargo told the trooper he drank beers prior to the hockey game and agreed to do a field-sobriety test, which he failed. He submitted to a breath test, which showed he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.187, more than twice the legal limit. He was arrested for DUI, and his official blood-alcohol level from the second test was 0.202, records show.
During his interview with Internal Affairs, Camargo admitted to having a 24-ounce can of beer while picking everyone else up for the trip, then said he didn’t drink anything else while driving. He later backed off that statement, saying “I mighta had one ‘cause they had — they got that orangey beer,” according to the records.
Camargo told investigators he had a beer and a shot at a bar on the way, three or four beers at the game, and two or three more beers at a bar after the game. When investigators added up what he admitted to drinking, the total would have been at least 11 beers, the records show.
Two of Camargo’s passengers, also Tucson police officers, confirmed for the trooper the amount of alcohol they’d all consumed during the day, according to the records.
One of the passengers “was asked specifically if he thought Camargo was impaired and said his speech was slurred, but he seemed to be walking fine. He also said he knew Camargo was intoxicated because they were all drinking throughout the night, but did not know the degree of intoxication.”
The two passengers, Officers Jose Higuera and Jason Kingman, each received a 20-hour suspension related to the incident, said Sgt. Kim Bay, a Tucson police spokeswoman.
In October, Camargo was found guilty in Casa Grande of three DUI-related charges and in December 2016 was sentenced to jail time, home detention, alcohol screening and a fine.
Camargo has the opportunity for an AZPOST hearing with an administrative law judge.
Oro Valley Police Department
The board accepted an agreement with Jason P. Lindley, allowing him to voluntarily relinquish his peace officer certification, Sierra said.
The Star reported earlier this month that Lindley resigned from the Oro Valley Police Department in November, after investigators found a “significant amount of sexually-based ... photographs, videos and correspondence” on his department phone.
A review of his phone showed 20,989 images, 141 videos and 9,178 chats. Of the videos, 126 were found to be sexual in nature, and the majority of the photographs and chats were also sexually explicit.
The department’s investigation revealed that Lindley was sexting while on duty and had also engaged in sexual acts while working.
Bisbee Police Department
The board accepted an administrative judge’s decision to revoke the certification of Charles V. Austin, who resigned in November 2014 after he was found to be intoxicated on duty with the Bisbee Police Department while wearing his uniform, according to records.
Cochise County Sheriff’s Office
After discussing the case of former deputy Israel Burkholder, who is facing charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, aggravated assault with serious injury and various drug charges, the board unanimously accepted an administrative judge’s decision to revoke Burkholder’s certification.
On Nov. 10, the Star reported that Burkholder, 43, who had recently been arrested in a murder-for-hire plot, resigned from the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office nearly two years ago after he admitted to using oxycodone and Vicodin while on duty for 1½ years, according to documents.
The board’s decision to initiate proceedings was based solely on the drug use, as he was no longer working for the department at the time of his arrest for the alleged murder plot.
