4th Phoenix police officer was fired in October; appeal is ongoing

PHOENIX – A fourth Phoenix police officer, one who was involved in a sexual misconduct lawsuit, was fired last month, authorities said Monday.

Sgt. Tommy Thompson told KTAR News 92.3 FM in an email that Officer Marcos Rodriguez was let go Oct. 16.

Thompson said he couldn’t provide additional details because the appeals process was ongoing.

Rodriguez was fired one week before the department publicly acknowledged that three other officers had been terminated over a variety of unrelated incidents.

In July, the city of Phoenix reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit alleging that Rodriguez stalked and made unwanted sexual advances toward a woman during an on-the-job encounter.

The City Council approved a $125,000 payout in the case, ABC15 reported.

The lawsuit alleged Rodriguez showed up at the woman’s apartment after an August 2018 encounter on a roadway, asked her several times if he could kiss her and made sexually suggestive comments and gestures. He was also accused of pointing a gun at her in a demonstration of how he would act if an attacker took away his gun.

In court records, the city denied the allegations.

The lawsuit said the encounter caused the woman to take medications for depression, anxiety and insomnia and move out of her apartment so Rodriguez couldn’t find her.

On Oct. 22, Phoenix Police revealed that three officers had been fired.

One was Officer Christopher Meyer, who was accused of excessive force and inappropriate behavior during a shoplifting call. Viral cellphone videos of the incident drew national attention.

Sgt. Daniel Beau Jones and Detective David Swick were also fired.

Jones was being criminally investigated and has faced multiple lawsuits over his conduct on the job. Swick was terminated after an investigation into offensive social media posts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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