Arizona DPS trooper accused of extorting women for sexual favors
Sep 10, 2019, 3:26 PM | Updated: Sep 11, 2019, 6:45 pm
Tremaine Jackson (Arizona Department of Public Safety Photo)
(Arizona Department of Public Safety Photo)
PHOENIX – An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper was arrested Tuesday and faces dozens of charges, including sexual abuse and kidnapping, for alleged crimes against eight women, authorities announced.
DPS Director Col. Frank Milstead said during a press conference that Tremaine Jackson, who has been fired, offered the women leniency in exchange for sexual activity.
“He was using his positional authority to extort sexual favor from these traffic stops, from the women of these traffic stops,” he said.
Jackson, 43, was with the agency for 13 years and had been on leave since June 11, when a sexual abuse complaint was lodged, Milstead said.
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He’d already been under investigation for allegedly making inappropriate comments to a woman he’d pulled over in May.
“We were horrified. We were absolutely horrified,” Milstead said of the accusations.
Jackson most recently worked in the department’s Metro Motors District.
DPS said Jackson would be booked on 61 counts in all: sexual abuse (two counts), attempted sexual abuse (two counts), attempted sexual assault (one count), sexual extortion (four counts), unlawful sexual contact by a peace officer (four counts), unlawful imprisonment (eight counts), kidnapping (eight counts), harassment (four counts), forgery (eight counts), fraudulent schemes and artifices (five counts), fraudulent schemes and practices/willful concealment (seven counts) and tampering with a public record (eight counts).
Milstead said the forgery charges stemmed from falsifying department records and the kidnapping charges were the result of Jackson allegedly keeping victims for longer than was appropriate during traffic stops.
He said he couldn’t reveal more details about the alleged crimes while the case was still under investigation.
Authorities believe there could be more victims.
Anybody with information about crimes Jackson may have committed was asked to contact DPS at 602-223-2389 or submit information online.
