Body camera shows Tempe Officer Kerzaya point a gun at hotel employee Trevonyae Cumpian.
TEMPE, Ariz. - We have learned that an officer with the Tempe Police Department who allegedly held a Black hotel employee at gunpoint while searching for an armed white man has relinquished his peace officer certification in Arizona.
According to documents from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board that we obtained, the officer involved, who has been identified as Ronald A. Kerzaya, has decided to permanently relinquish his Arizona peace officer certification without admitting any misconduct or failure to meet minimum qualifications.
Kerzaya's decision to relinquish his certification, according to the documents, will be entered into the National Decertification Index, a database maintained by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, as a voluntary relinquishment.
Kerzaya's decision to permanently relinquish his qualification means he will be barred from peace officer work in Arizona.
The documents were signed by Kerzaya on Feb. 11, 2022, and by his lawyer, identified as Dale Norris, on Feb. 20, 2022. The decision was adopted at an Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board meeting on March 16, 2022.
Incident captured on body camera video
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(Related video) Tempe Police officer seen pointing gun at Black hotel employee
The incident happened during a search for a man with a gun, and it was captured on body camera video. (This story aired on September 4, 2020.)
The incident happened on Aug. 29, 2020, when Kerzaya responded to a hotel in the area of 24th Street and Southern Avenue after the hotel manager reported a white man who had pointed a gun at an employee.
Body camera video taken during the incident show Kerzaya first asking for details on the suspect.
"Is he a white male? A Black male? Come on!" Kerzaya was heard asking.
"White male. He's gonna be wearing black shirt and tan pants," said a man, off-camera.
Kerzaya searched the area, and eventually stopped a Black man named Trevonyae Cumpian.
"You work here?" Kerzaya asked Cumpian. In the video, Cumpian was seen wearing a white and gray shirt.
"I was keeping the door closed, man!" Cumpian replied, as his hands were up in the air.
"OK. Turn around," Kerzaya was heard saying.
"I work here!" Cumpian protested.
"Hey! Listen to me! Listen! OK? I am responding to somebody with a firearm who matches your description, you understand that?" Kerzaya said, despite being given the suspect's description earlier on.
At the time of the incident, Cumpian was wearing a white-gray shirt.
"You going to shoot me?" Cumpian can be seen asking. "Like the other person on the news?"
Kerzaya responds with, "Shut the f--- up with that s---," Kerzaya responded.
Eventually, Kerzaya was able to confirm that Cumpian was an employee, and told him to go.
"You can stand by in the lobby," Kerzaya said. "If you need all my information, I would be more than happy to give it to you."
Less than a minute after that, a man with a bicycle comes outside. Kerzaya went after the man, as he ran back into the hotel. Later on, a second man with a bicycle arrived at the door.
"Where is he?" Kerzaya asked.
"Ain't got nothing to do with me," that man replied.
"No [expletive]!" Kerzaya said.
"So why are you talking to me like that?" the man asked.
"God, dick! Get the [expletive] out of the way!" Kerzaya retorted.
Kerzaya put on administrative duty; prior incident revealed
In the aftermath of the incident involving Cumpian, Tempe Police officials said Kerzaya was placed in an "administrative role" amid an investigation,
"Our initial review indicates that this incident was not handled in accordance with the professionalism and respectful behavior that we, and the public, have for our officers," officials wrote.
At the time, officials also confirmed that Kerzaya was involved in an incident where he tased an unarmed man holding a baby during a domestic violence call in 2019. He received de-escalation training afterward.
Cumpian filed claim against Tempe Police
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(Related video) Community members speak out about Tempe officer incident at hotel
In September 2020, Cumpian filed a $2.5 million claim against the City of Tempe as a result of the incident. A notice claim is a precursor to a lawsuit.
"Once things became hostile, and he said I fit the description, and have me get down on my knees with a gun on me, all I can think about was my daughter, my family, and my life flashed before my eyes. I thought I was gonna die," said Cumpian, during a news conference. "After finding out later that [Kerzaya] knew the description from skin color to clothes, I became more frightened, realizing that I have been racially profiled because of my skin color."
The claim called for Kerzaya to be terminated due to his ‘blatant and continual abusiveness toward Black men,' while accusing Tempe Police of a cover-up, with officials attempting to avoid providing the officer's badge number and, when they did, they provided Kerzaya’s middle name of Aaron, instead of Ronald, before providing Kerzaya's full name.
In December 2020, members of the Tempe City Council approved, in a unanimous vote, a deal to settle Cumpian's lawsuit, with the city agreeing to pay $300,000 to Cumpian in order to settle all claims, while noting that the agreement does not constitute an admission of liability by anyone.
At the time, Tempe Police officials announced that Kerzaya will remain in an administrative role with the force, and will not return as a patrol officer for at least one year.
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