Maricopa County, Arizona, court paperwork gives new details on the traffic stop and the Phoenix police shooting of Sam Perone.
Phoenix police say an officer pulled over a man, later identified as 46-year-old Sam Perone, for a traffic violation. Perone reportedly got out of his car to argue before the officer even stopped his vehicle.
Perone then allegedly began screaming at the officer. According to police, the officer requested the Perone’s
drivers license and attempted to explain the reason for the stop. Perone was not compliant and
continued to argue with the officer. Perone escalated his verbal aggression toward the officer and
began to physically assault him.
A Good Samaritan in a black shirt can be scene coming to the officer’s aid, trying to pull Perone off of the officer.
Police say during the struggle, Perone tried to pull the officer’s gun from his holster.
The officer then drew his gun from the holster but the magazine fell out, leaving only the round in the chamber.
The officer fired the one round, hitting Perone.
Other officers then arrived and administered first aid to both the officer and Perone before they were both taken to the hospital.
#arizona #crime #phoenix #police
Phoenix Police Department Press Release
Officer Involved Shooting
(May 25, 2025) Phoenix Police detectives are investigating an officer involved shooting that took
place Sunday afternoon near 2500 East Cactus Road.
On May 25, 2025, at about 2:30 p.m., a patrol officer assigned to the Desert Horizon Precinct saw a
man driving a car on Cactus Road who violated a traffic law. The officer conducted a traffic stop and
the driver pulled over near 25th Place and Cactus Road. Before the officer could park his patrol car
the man got out of his vehicle and began arguing with the officer. The officer requested the man’s
drivers license and attempted to explain the reason for the stop. The man was not compliant and
continued to argue with the officer. The driver escalated his verbal aggression toward the officer and
began to physically assault him.
During the fight, a witness stopped to help the officer by trying to pull the man away. As the fight
continued, the driver attempted to grab the officer’s gun from its holster. The officer unholstered his
weapon and fired one round striking the man in the lower extremity. Additional officers got to the
scene and applied a tourniquet to the man. Phoenix Fire responded and took him to the hospital with
non-life-threatening injuries.
The officer involved in this critical incident was also taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries.
He has since been released.
Detectives have taken over the investigation. This area will be shut down for an extended period of time as the scene investigation is conducted. This incident is part of our 14-day Transparency Policy. Updates to this case can be found in the related Critical Incident Briefing to be released within that time frame.
Sergeant Brian Bower
Public Affairs Bureau