Matthew Casey

The Republic | azcentral.com

Buckeye police said safety concerns prompted an officer to threaten to kill a driver during a Friday afternoon traffic stop.

The Buckeye Police Department will conduct an administrative inquiry into what led an officer to threaten to kill a 30-year-old Mesa man during a traffic stop on Friday, Chief Larry Hall announced Monday.

Police initiated the stop on State Route 85 in the southwest Valley after receiving a law-enforcement report that Teodulo Sanchez's Honda may have been carrying drugs and the driver was possibly armed, Buckeye police spokesman Sgt. Jason Weeks said.

The officer has said he made the threatout of concern for his own safety. Still, Hall said, "we would prefer the officer choose another word."

The department did not release the officer's name. Hall said the officer has worked for Buckeye for about a year and had previous experience with another law-enforcement agency.

Police searched Sanchez's vehicle for drugs and weapons, found none and let Sanchez go, Weeks said.

Sanchez recorded the incident, and a community activist posted a portion of it on the video-sharing website YouTube. In the video, the officer asks Sanchez his name and whether he has weapons in the car. Sanchez is given commands in English and Spanish to show his hands, turn the car off, show the officer his keys and produce his driver's license.

"If you do something here, I kill you," the officer can be heard saying in Spanish. "You understand me?"

Weeks said the officer became concerned for his safety when Sanchez disobeyed commands to not move his hands. At one point, Sanchez moved his left hand out of the officer's sight, but it was movement toward the Honda's center console that prompted the threat.

The officer's safety concerns grew, Weeks said, as the officer approached the car and Sanchez did not obey repeated commands to lower the Honda's windows and turn off the car, Weeks said.

Sanchez said Monday that the officer also pointed a gun at him.

"I felt he was going to shoot me,"

Sanchez said in Spanish.

Hall said he has so far received no indication that is true. He met with Sanchez and his family on Monday and promised to review the entire incident.

"If the officer did something wrong, he'll be held accountable," Hall said.

Sanchez, originally from Durango, Mexico, said he was returning to the Valley from Yuma, where he had been working as a plumber at a military base.

The incident happened between 12:30 and 1 p.m. Friday, Sanchez said. An undercover law-enforcement vehicle had been following Sanchez for several miles prior to his crossing the Gila River, where a Buckeye patrol vehicle was waiting.

The Buckeye officer had probable cause to stop Sanchez, Weeks said, because he failed to stay in his lane while driving and the Honda had an obstructed windshield.

Sanchez is free on bond with a pending immigration-status hearing, according to Buckeye police.