Phoenix cop shoots, kills man stopped for bicycle light infraction

At about 3 a.m. on May 28, Sergio Frances Alvarez was riding his bicycle when a police car pulled up. In an ensuing confrontation, the 48-year-old Alvarez allegedly shot a Phoenix cop — despite being held down by two officers — before another police officer returned fire and killed him.

Much of what happened, though, remains unknown.

Footage of the May 28 shooting was released Monday by the Phoenix Police Department as part of the agency's “critical incident briefing," which is made public after any police shooting or in-custody death. The briefings are narrated by officers and include edited compilations of body camera footage, dispatch audio and other information regarding an incident.

But the briefing about the killing of Alvarez provided few details. According to police, both officers' body-worn cameras were knocked to the ground during the struggle, severely limiting their ability to capture events before and after the killing. Only footage from one camera was shown. Though audio from the incident is available, for most of the available footage bodies can be seen only vaguely in one corner of the frame.

The briefing contained no footage of the moments leading up to Alvarez’s encounter with police, including any commands the cops may have issued him. The briefing said Alvarez was stopped for a traffic violation. Police spokesperson Sgt. Mayra Reeson told Phoenix New Times that Alvarez was stopped because he did not have a lamp emitting white light on the front of his bike or a red light on the tail of it.

At multiple points in the body-cam footage, Alvarez could be heard pleading with the officers to tell him what he’d done. He never received an answer.

Most importantly, the crucial moments of the shooting all happen off-camera. A shot was fired — apparently while two officers, Peter De La Pena and another the department did not name, were struggling to hold Alvarez down — hitting one officer in the leg, police said. The other officer then fired three times at Alvarez, who later died after being transported to a hospital.

“This is indicative of the violence officers face every day protecting our community,” said Phoenix police Chief Michael Sullivan in an advisory issued after the bicycle infraction turned fatal.

Alvarez was the seventh person killed by Phoenix police so far in 2024. In total, Phoenix cops have killed eight people this year — a briefing for their latest fatal shooting is expected June 17 — after killing 12 people in 2023. That was an increase from 2022, when Phoenix cops killed 10 people.

‘Why did you stop me?’

Police said the incident began when officers stopped Alvarez for not having lights on his bicycle. One officer got out of the patrol vehicle to “contact the man,” who “immediately became combative.”

Little of that portion of their fatal encounter was recorded, however. It is not clear why the briefing did not include footage from the moments leading up to the confrontation with Alvarez. Body-worn camera footage shown in the video started only when the second officer exited the driver's side of the patrol vehicle to assist the first officer with Alvarez. The first officer can be seen pushing Alvarez up against the side of the vehicle.

Both officers then struggled physically with Alvarez, who can be heard screaming, “Help me, help me, help me please!”

“What are you guys doing?” Alvarez asked.

“You’re under arrest,” one officer said.

“For what? I haven’t done shit to you guys,” Alvarez said. “Do I have a warrant or what the fuck?”

The officers did not reply.

The body-worn camera of one officer was then knocked to the ground. After a few seconds of darkness, the camera was jostled to an angle pointing slightly toward the ongoing struggle, which was barely visible in the upper-left corner of the frame. The body-cam of the other officer also was knocked down at one point, though police said it landed face down and no footage from it was provided. The remainder of the incident was captured primarily on audio.

Alvarez continued to tell the officers to get off of him and to stop choking him.

“I’m not,” one officer replied. “Stop grabbing my hand.”

Then, in a muffled voice, Alvarez said, “I can’t breathe” a few times before a shot was fired. To that point, the entire video of the confrontation had lasted roughly 80 seconds.

“He shot me,” one of the officers said twice. The other ordered, “Put it down, put it down now.”

After informing the injured officer to step back and radio for more assistance, the second officer fired three shots at Alvarez. Alvarez could then be heard moaning and continuing to yell for help.

One officer then could be heard asking the other where he had been hit and telling Alvarez, “Stop, or I’m gonna shoot you again.” Alvarez continued to moan and scream, sometimes uttering unintelligible strings of words. At the end of the video provided by police, he again asked officers, “Why did you stop me?”

Again, the officers did not reply.

The aftermath

In an initial advisory issued immediately after the shooting, police said Alvarez was able to get up after being shot and run a short distance before being taken into custody. But in the video briefing released Monday, Reeson said only that Alvarez was able to stand up and was taken into custody. She added that officers rendered aid to Alvarez, who was taken to a hospital where he died.

The officer who was shot was taken to a hospital in “serious but stable condition,” according to Reeson. She told New Times on Tuesday that he is "still hospitalized and will have a long road to recovery."

Reeson also said the handgun used by Alvarez was discovered on the scene. A picture of a gun lying by a bicycle in the daytime is shown in the video.

Both officers involved in the incident are assigned to the South Mountain police precinct and have been with the department for three years. The officer who was not shot has been moved to a nonadministrative position, Reeson told New Times. However, she did not respond to a request for details on the length of that move.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office opened a criminal investigation into the shooting, and police are conducting an internal investigation to determine if officers followed department policy.