BrieAnna J Frank

The Republic | azcentral.com

Three Phoenix Police Department officers have resigned and are now involved in criminal and administrative investigations following allegations that they made a 19-year-old man eat marijuana to avoid going to jail during a traffic stop on Sept. 13.

Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner identified the three officers as Richard G. Pina, Jason E. McFadden and Michael J. Carnicle, all of whom were probationary employees and had been with the department for less than one year. Yahner said "termination was inevitable" if the officers hadn't chosen to resign on their own.

He described the incident as "compelling, appalling and extremely unprofessional" during a Thursday press conference at police headquarters in downtown Phoenix.

Yahner said Lt. Jeff Farrior, who had been notified about the allegations but failed to launch an investigation, was demoted to the position of sergeant. Farrior was a lieutenant for six months and a sergeant for seven years prior, Yahner said.

Yahner would not say who did what, but two of the officers are considered suspects in the criminal investigation, while the third is a witness. All three officers had been wearing body cameras but they were turned off at the time, he said.

The 19-year-old man, a Phoenix resident, brought the matter to the department's attention, Yahner said. The man reported that several officers stopped him for a traffic violation at about 3:30 a.m. Sept. 13 in the 4500 block of West McDowell Road. The officers were reported to have found marijuana in his vehicle during the stop, Yahner said.

When the marijuana was found, the man told police, officers demanded he eat the marijuana to avoid being taken to jail, Yahner said. The man said he ate about a gram of marijuana, was issued traffic tickets and then released. He reported being sick as a result.

Yahner said the alleged incident is "contrary to everything we stand for as community servants and undermines the good actions of the men and women of the Phoenix Police Department."

Despite the incident, Yahner said Thursday he's "confident in our hiring process," and that the department will "do our due diligence as we move forward."

Yahner wouldn't disclose what the officers will be charged with in the criminal investigation.