Phoenix officers suspended for 24 hours after repeatedly punching deaf man with cerebral palsy during arrest

Three Phoenix police officers will receive 24-hour, unpaid suspensions, and two of them must undergo more training, after the arrest of a deaf man who has cerebral palsy last year, the police chief said Wednesday.

Tyron McAlpin was arrested on Aug. 19, 2024, after a man who was involved in a fight at a convenience store pointed to McAlpin — who was walking by — while talking to officers, according to a police report.

Video showed McAlpin arrested almost as soon as police exited their vehicle. McAlpin was punched and shocked with a stun gun, the video shows.

McAlpin had been charged with felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest, but Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell dismissed those charges in October after reviewing the case.

McAlpin’s attorney said at the time that the officers’ injuries during the arrest resulted from their “frenzied and violent attack on Tyron.”

“The Department identified policy violations” following an administrative investigation into the arrest, the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement Wednesday.

The statement did not identify the officers. A police spokesperson said the department was not naming the officers because a possible appeal process is pending.

All three offices received 24-hour unpaid suspensions, and two of them will be required to undergo additional de-escalation training, the department said.

The suspensions are for 24 hours in total, so if officers work eight-hour shifts, that would be a three-day suspension, police said.

“Our priority is always the safety and well-being of our community and our officers. We understand the concerns raised by this incident, and we take them seriously,” Interim Police Chief Michael Sullivan said.

The incident occurred after someone called 911 about a fight at a Circle K store, police said in an incident report. The caller said a white man was the aggressor and was still inside the store, according to the report.

The man pointed to McAlpin, who is Black, and claimed he assaulted him, police wrote in the report.

McAlpin’s attorney, Jesse Showalter, said police used excessive force and didn’t interview the Circle K employee or anyone to ask what happened.

In the video, “what you see is simply Tyron trying to avoid being struck repeatedly by the officer who repeatedly swings punches at his face,” Showalter said in October.

There is no indication that the officers knew McAlpin was deaf or had cerebral palsy before his arrest.

“Our goal is to learn from this and move forward together as a stronger department and community,” Sullivan, the interim police chief, said in Wednesday’s statement.

Showalter did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment sent to his law firm late Wednesday afternoon.