Phoenix officer accused of domestic violence
by William Hermann - Dec. 13, 2011 05:09 PM
The Arizona Republic
A Phoenix police officer who is also a Marine Reservist and recently back from a combat tour in Afghanistan has been arrested on charges of assaulting his wife and discharging a firearm.
A Casa Grande police spokesman said that Armando Ramirez was arrested Saturday and booked into the Pinal County Jail on one count of aggravated assault/domestic violence, one count of disorderly conduct with a weapon and one count of unlawful discharge of a weapon.
No one was injured by the gunshot, the spokesman said.
A Phoenix police spokesman, Sgt. Trent Crump, said Tuesday that Ramirez, 37, is a five-year member of the force. He also said Ramirez had previously served 10 years in the Marines and since joining the Phoenix police has done a combat tour in Iraq and a recent seven-month stint in Afghanistan.
Crump said Ramirez had resumed duties in the South Mountain Precinct on Dec. 5.
Ramirez has been placed on paid administrative leave and assigned to his home by the Professional Standards Bureau until an investigation is completed, the spokesman added.
Crump said he had spoken on the telephone with Ramirez.
"He said to me that he loves his family very much and is going to do everything possible to make this right,'' he said. Cops certainly give criminal cops a lot of slack. I have never heard a cop talk about a non-police criminal in this way!
Crump said that "appropriate action'' will be taken by the Police Department, "when the facts of the case are known and have been reviewed.''