Apache Junction officer in critical condition after shooting: Chief says he's a 'fighter'
Police Chief Michael Pooley said on June 3 that Facio remained in critical condition a day after he was shot in what escalated from a road rage incident.
Facio, a married father of two, was "kind of the heartbeat of our department," Pooley said. He called Facio a "fighter," but asked for support from the Apache Junction community.
"It is heartbreaking to see one of your strong, tough officers in a very dire situation," Pooley said. "So again we ask for prayers and comfort for the family, support from the community."
The incident began just after 9 a.m. June 2, when officers responded to the area of Ironwood Drive and Elliott Road on reports of a driver brandishing a gun, the chief said.
An officer found the vehicle matching the description — a white Tesla — and stopped it, Pooley said. The driver was compliant and "showed no signs of aggression whatsoever," the chief said.
When the officer asked the driver to step out of the vehicle, he pulled a handgun from the glove box, got out, and began walking away, Pooley said.
Officers followed the man as he walked south on Ironwood Drive with the firearm for about a mile, Pooley said. "He did say at some point that he wanted the officer to shoot him," the chief said.
Officers tried to get the man to stop and used a pepper ball gun, but it "had no effect on him whatsoever," the chief said. Near Radiance Avenue, the man made "a quick move" and fired four rounds, hitting Facio in the face, Pooley said.
Four other officers returned fire, and one then took Facio in a patrol vehicle to the hospital for treatment, Pooley said. They were placed on paid administrative leave as part of the routine response to an officer-involved shooting.
Apache Junction police identified the driver of the white Tesla as Roger Nunez, 37, of Apache Junction. The handgun he used was a "ghost gun," Pooley said. He did not provide specifics about the weapon. Generally, ghost guns are those that do not have a traceable serial number. They are sometimes 3-D printed.
Pooley said Mesa police were investigating the incident and would recommend Nunez be charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault.
The chief said the officers who responded saved Facio's life.
"Had those officers not reacted the way they did, Officer Facio would have lost his life yesterday on that street," the chief said. "There's no doubt in my mind."
Pooley said Facio was known for supporting his fellow law enforcement officers and had "a great attitude." Facio previously worked briefly in Phoenix.
"He's just a wonderful human being and one of my personal favorites. I'm not supposed to have favorites, but I'll tell you he is one of my favorites," the chief said. "He really is just the heartbeat of this department. And it's very, very difficult for our officers right now."
News alerts in your inbox: Don't miss the important news of the day. Sign up for azcentral newsletter alerts to be in the know.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Apache Junction officer in critical condition is 'fighter,' chief says
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
8 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Jurors blame Tesla for fatal Florida Keys crash, award victims $242 million
A Miami jury on Friday found fault with the Autopilot system of one of the world's most influential electric vehicle makers and awarded the survivors of a horrendous crash in the Florida Keys that left a woman dead and her boyfriend criticially injured, $242.6 million. The jury needed just seven hours to determine that industry leader Tesla was to pay $200 million in punitive damages and another $42.6 million in damages to the surviving family members of Naibel Benavides Leon, who was killed when she was 22, and her boyfriend Dillon Angulo, 33, who survived but suffered massive internal and external injuries from the accident. The verdict in Miami federal civil court marked the first time in three attempts over the past three years that jurors found culpability with Tesla's Autopilot system at trial - a historic marker, said attorney Brett Schreiber. As the verdict was read, tears streamed down the faces of family members and plaintiff attorneys who spent three weeks painstakingly making their case about the 2019 accident. 'It's rare when regular people have the opportunity to change the world and this is what this verdict did,' Schreiber said standing next to Angulo and Benavides Leon's family outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson federal courthouse in downtown Miami. 'What Musk has been saying about this technology was as wrong 10 years ago as it is today.' Other attorneys who tried the case alongside Schrieber and before Miami U.S. District Judge Beth Blooom were Miami's Todd Poses, Adam Boumel and Doug Eaton. Under a blistering sun outside the courthouse with the heat index over 105 degrees, Angulo - whose entire body was practically shattered during the crash - thanked God, family, doctors and first responders. 'To stand up like this, especially against the richest guy in the world, we did this for Naidel,' he said. READ MORE: Family of woman slain in 2019 Florida Keys crash blames Tesla autopilot for her death The decision came at the end of a three-week trial that delved into statements made by Tesla founder Elon Musk over the years concerning the Tesla S's ability to stop itself or veer away from something in its path with little or no driver assistance. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that Tesla falsely claimed its Autopilot system has the ability to stop without the help of drivers. Tesla's attorneys laid the blame squarely on George McGee, 48, who ran a stop sign at the end of Card Sound Road at 62 miles per hour, well above the 45-mph speed limit, while pressing the pedal and reaching down to the car's floor in search of his dropped cellphone. McGee agreed earlier at a separate trial to pay the families an undisclosed amount in a settlement. Tesla called Friday's verdict 'wrong' and said it only sets back automotive safety and jeopardizes the industry's ability to develop life-saving technology. They blamed McGee - who jurors found to be two-thirds at fault, but who wasn't involved in the case because of his earlier agreement. And Tesla said it intends to appeal the verdict. McGee also pleaded no contest to a careless driving charge in Monroe County. 'This was never about Autopilot, it was a fiction concocted by plantiffs' lawyers blaming the car when the driver - from day one - admitted and accepted responsibility,' the company said. The horrendous crash happened just after 9 p.m on April 25, 2019, at the end of Card Sound Road at the north end of Key Largo where the road meets County Road 905. The young couple's Chevy Tahoe was parked on a dirt road on the east side of County Road 905, which leads north to the Ocean Reef Club, where McGee was headed, and south to the Florida Keys. As McGee approached the three-way stop at the end of Card Sound Road, he dropped his cellphone, looked down and blew through the stop sign and onto the dirt road beyond, hitting the Tahoe so hard it launched Benavides Leon 80 feet into the woods. Video footage shows McGee getting out of his car and tending to Ungulo whose pelvis and jaw bone separated. They only found Benavides after finding flipflops beneath the truck and about a 10-minute search. At trial it came out that McGee was on the phone preparing for a flight so he and his wife could attend a funeral. During closing arguments earlier this week, Schreiber told jurors how Musk and other Tesla executives had repeatedly relayed to the public how the Tesla S was a 'self-driving' car and said it was their fault that it became an expectation. Friday, he said outside the courtroom the company pushed a campaign that Tesla was top-of-the-heap technology, but inside the courtroom 'they make it out like it's a jalopy.' 'The Tesla car is a good car,' Schreiber said. 'It's the Autopilot that will kill you.' Tesla attorneys led by Joel Smith chose not to make any public statements after the verdict other than referring to the company's statement. During closing arguments Thursday, Smith told jurors that if a driver hits the accelerator and the car races above the speed limit, it overrides the Autopilot function. He said records show McGee was on the phone for 13 minutes, varied speeds in the minutes leading to the crash and harped on how the car's manual says drivers should always maintain control of the steering wheel. The attorney cited 2019 federal transportation records that showed 36,500 people died in car accidents in the U.S. 'McGee said under testimony he knew he couldn't be hands-free on Autopilot,' Smith told jurors. 'He's an aggressive driver who dropped his cellphone, and like all the other people, killed someone.'
The Hill
8 minutes ago
- The Hill
Tesla found partly liable for fatal autopilot crash
A federal jury on Friday found Elon Musk's Tesla partially liable for a fatal 2019 crash involving the electric vehicle maker's autopilot system. The Miami jury determined Tesla was 33 percent responsible for the crash and ordered the company to pay several million dollars in damages. The family of Naibel Benavides sued the EV maker over the crash that resulted in the 22-year-old's death, alleging the company's autopilot system had 'defective and unsafe characteristics' that it failed to warn consumers about. 'Tesla's lies turned our roads into test tracks for their fundamentally flawed technology, putting everyday Americans like Naibel Benavides and Dillon Angulo in harm's way,' Brett Schreiber, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. 'Today's verdict represents justice for Naibel's tragic death and Dillon's lifelong injuries, holding Tesla and Musk accountable for propping up the company's trillion-dollar valuation with self-driving hype at the expense of human lives,' he continued. In the 2019 crash, the driver of the car, George McGee, had activated Tesla's autopilot function and taken his eyes off the road to look at his phone when the system failed to register an upcoming intersection. The car drove through the intersection and struck a parked car, killing Benavides and injuring her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo. The jury awarded $59 million in compensatory damages to Benavides' family and $70 million to Angulo, while hitting Tesla with $200 million in punitive damages. Tesla said in a statement that it plans to appeal the decision 'given the substantial errors of law and irregularities at trial.' 'Today's verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla's and the entire industry's efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology,' the EV maker said. 'Even though this jury found that the driver was overwhelmingly responsible for this tragic accident in 2019, the evidence has always shown that this driver was solely at fault because he was speeding, with his foot on the accelerator – which overrode Autopilot – as he rummaged for his dropped phone without his eyes on the road,' it added. 'To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash.'
Miami Herald
33 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Federal jury finds Tesla partly liable for fatal Autopilot crash
A jury in Miami has determined that Tesla should be held partly liable for a fatal 2019 crash involving the automaker's "Autopilot" driver-assist system, and is requiring Tesla to pay $329 million in damages to the family of the deceased and an injured survivor, multiple news outlets reported Friday. The payout includes $129 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages against Tesla, according to CNBC, while attorneys for the plaintiffs had asked the jury to award damages of around $345 million. The trial, which began in the Southern District of Florida July 14, is the first involving an Autopilot-related case in a federal court. The case involved an April 2019 crash in Key Largo, Florida. A Tesla Model S driven by George McGee sped through a stop sign and struck Naibel Benavides and her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo. Benavides was killed, while Angulo was left with a traumatic brain injury and broken bones. The couple were standing near their parked car stargazing as McGee approached in his Tesla with the "Enhanced Autopilot" system engaged. He had dropped his phone and was trying to pick it up. During the trial, McGee reportedly said he believed Enhanced Autopilot would brake if an obstacle was in the way. Instead, the Model S continued at over 60 mph, striking the car and its owners, according to testimony. Tesla has argued that the fatal crash was wholly due to driver error, and continued to argue that its driver aids were safer than manual driving even as the trial went on, but the jury did find the automaker partly responsible in the end. As CNBC notes, the verdict could set a precedent for other Autopilot-related suits against Tesla. There are currently around a dozen cases in progress alleging that Autopilot or Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" system contributed to fatal or injurious crashes. The California DMV has also asked a state court to suspend Tesla's sales license for 30 days and levy financial penalties against the automaker due to alleged misleading promotion of its driver-assist tech. The DMV is reportedly concerned not only with names like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, but also Tesla statements implying capabilities these systems don't have, such as one claiming that they are "designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver's seat." All of this comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk doubles down on promises that the future of the company lies in automation, and that it can pivot from being primarily an automaker to operating fleets of autonomous vehicles. Musk has been making similar promises for at least nine years, but Tesla's declining sales and minimal product updates indicate very little effort is being put into the existing parts of its business. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
