Rookie Officer Arrested For Assaulting Suspect: Phoenix Police

PHOENIX, AZ — A rookie police officer with the Phoenix Police Department has been arrested after his body-worn camera captured him physically assaulting a man who was handcuffed, according to a department release.

The officer, 23-year-old Conner Orth-Smith, was booked for aggravated assault following the incident, which happened July 16 in the area of 99th Avenue and McDowell Road.

According to police, Orth-Smith was called to help security personnel at a local hospital after a man refused to leave the property and became physically violent. Police said the man was intoxicated and Orth-Smith agreed to take him to a facility for treatment. The man was later arrested for aggravated assault on a police officer.

Days later, however, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office alerted Phoenix Police about concerns surrounding the body-worn camera footage of the arrest. A simultaneous review by Phoenix police also showed Orth-Smith had physically assaulted the man while he was handcuffed, causing visible injuries.

Orth-Smith's actions were "unreasonable and in no way proportional to the man’s actions," police said.

Orth-Smith joined the Phoenix Police Department in May 2020. After graduating from the Phoenix Regional Police Academy, he was assigned in November 2020 to patrol in Maryvale-Estrella Mountain precinct. He has submitted his resignation from the force, police said.

“The behavior captured on the body-worn camera in this instance is egregious, appalling and will not be tolerated,” Police Chief Jeri Williams said in a release. “Our agency took decisive and immediate action. Acts like these leave a blemish on the badge and affect the noble profession of policing, making it more difficult for the men and women who police with integrity and honor.”

Both the criminal and administrative investigations into the incident are ongoing, police said.