An Arizona Department of Public Safety SUV parked against a rocky desert backdrop — a DPS vehicle like those driven by troopers now under review by the state police board.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety SUV parked against a rocky desert backdrop — a DPS vehicle like those driven by troopers now under review by the state police board.
State regulators have launched a formal inquiry into a former Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper after body-worn camera footage challenged the narrative in his official paperwork about a forceful arrest. At its May 20 meeting, the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board voted to open an investigation into Carlos A. Bailon, who resigned from the department following the incident. The probe could result in suspension or revocation of his peace-officer certification, which would bar him from working as a law-enforcement officer in Arizona.
The board that voted to open the case — commonly known as AZPOST — is composed of 12 members that include state officials and representatives from sheriff’s and police agencies. As the agency authorized to impose discipline on officers in the state, it has the power to suspend or strip certifications; in 2025 the board disciplined 42 current and former officers. Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels serves as the board’s chair.
The series of events under review began on Feb. 16, 2025, along U.S. Route 60, after a multi-vehicle crash prompted a DPS response. When Bailon arrived at the scene, a pickup truck collided with a fire truck and another DPS patrol vehicle that were positioned to block access to the crash site, an AZPOST compliance specialist told the board. The pickup’s driver attempted to flee, lost a wheel, exited the vehicle and ran down the highway and across an active entrance ramp.
Bailon pursued the driver on foot, yelling commands to stop. He produced a Taser and warned the driver he would use it if the man did not comply. The driver stopped and knelt near the edge of the highway with his hands on top of a roadside barrier, facing a concrete wall. Accounts presented to the board state that Bailon yelled for the man to get on his stomach; when the man failed to do so the trooper kicked him twice — first upward into the abdomen and then downward — in an effort to force him prone. Another officer arrived to assist and moved to handcuff the subject.
Body-worn camera footage from the assisting trooper captured additional force that did not appear in Bailon’s official account. The other officer’s video shows Bailon placing a knee on the driver’s upper back and neck area while the subject was face down. At first the driver would not release his hands for cuffing; he eventually complied, at which point Bailon discharged the Taser twice. Investigators told the board that the tasing occurred after the subject had released his hands, suggesting Bailon may not have been aware of the compliance when he applied the device.
Bailon’s written report, however, did not reflect the full scope of events visible on the body-cam. He recorded that he kicked the subject once, but he did not disclose the use of his Taser or that he had put his knee on the man’s upper back and neck. Bailon also failed to complete the department’s required use-of-force form. An internal investigation concluded that Bailon violated departmental policies regarding use of force and procedural requirements; he resigned from DPS after those findings were made public.
Police officers speaking with a masked individual outside a brick building — an illustrative image of an arrest or custody encounter linked to reporting on a trooper's alleged use of force and subsequent probe.
Police officers speaking with a masked individual outside a brick building — an illustrative image of an arrest or custody encounter linked to reporting on a trooper's alleged use of force and subsequent probe.
The licensing board will not decide Bailon’s certification status at the May meeting; instead, the AZPOST investigation will proceed and a determination on whether to suspend or revoke his law-enforcement credentials will be scheduled for a future session. The move follows the internal review and the availability of corroborating body-cam footage that contradicted the former trooper’s initial reports.
During the same May meeting, the board addressed several other personnel matters. Attorney Cassidy Bacon returned to argue for leniency on behalf of Phoenix police officer Timothy H. Clark. AZPOST had voted in April to suspend Clark’s certification for 18 months after determining he had shared privileged police information and, in an unrelated incident, was arrested following what board materials described as a drunken episode after a 2023 Diamondbacks game. At the prior hearing, board members debated whether a longer suspension was warranted; Clark appeared in person and expressed remorse, and the board ultimately opted for an 18-month suspension rather than a 36-month penalty.
At the May session, Bacon urged the board to reconsider, telling members she had verified with the Phoenix Police Department that Clark would not lose his job if his suspension were 12 months or less. She asked that the imposed suspension take into account his current character and provide a realistic opportunity for him to return to service. The board declined to alter the earlier decision. Chair Dannels called the 18-month suspension “a gift” and said the board might have revoked Clark’s certification had he come before them sooner after the incidents; the board voted to confirm the 18-month suspension.
The board also reviewed the case of Phoenix officer Celina A. Gonzales, whose department had imposed a 24-hour suspension after an altercation with her boyfriend in March 2024. Board members were told Gonzales and her boyfriend argued when he returned home intoxicated; she tried to take his keys to prevent him from driving and, during a struggle, scratched him on the neck. She then emptied bins of his Hot Wheels toys onto the garage floor. The boyfriend initially alleged the scratch was intentional but later recanted. Criminal domestic-violence charges were dropped, though the department sustained administrative findings of assault and disorderly conduct and imposed the one-day suspension.
AZPOST members had considered a six-month suspension for Gonzales, but Bacon argued such a punishment would be unprecedented in comparable cases, noting there was neither a conviction nor a pattern of similar conduct. After reviewing past cases, the board agreed and limited the suspension to 24 hours, including time already served.
Board members also voted to open investigations into multiple other officers during the May meeting. Among the matters brought forward were the cases of former Mesa police officer Jonathan P. Stone and former Safford police officer David J. Gomez. Stone tested positive for amphetamines in July 2025; he told investigators he had been taking his wife’s Adderall without a prescription to help complete tasks while off duty, acknowledged working patrols after ingesting it, and resigned from the department. AZPOST compliance staff noted the drug test could not confirm the presence of Adderall specifically, though it did not indicate methamphetamine.
In the case of David J. Gomez, his wife notified the Safford Police Department that he had lied about his whereabouts during shifts while he was previously employed as a Graham County Sheriff’s deputy and had recently begun working in Safford. Investigators used GPS data and found that between October 2024 and March 2025 Gomez spent, on average, three hours per shift at home, according to AZPOST compliance staff. Those findings prompted the board to initiate a formal inquiry.
The board’s investigations and disciplinary decisions will remain on future agendas as AZPOST proceeds with its review of certification issues raised by these and other personnel matters. The inquiry into Bailon centers on the discrepancy between his reporting and body-worn camera evidence of force during an arrest; the outcome of that investigation will determine whether he retains the ability to be employed as a peace officer in Arizona.