Apr. 2021 - The state opened an investigation into Kerzaya in April 2021, months after the Tempe police department had concluded that the officer could remain on the force.

Kerzaya resigned more than a year after the city released body camera video of the incident

Feb. 11, 2022 - Relinquishes Ariz. peace officer certification The documents were signed by Kerzaya on Feb. 11, 2022, and by his lawyer, identified as Dale Norris, on Feb. 20, 2022.

Mar. 16, 2022 - The decision was adopted at an Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board meeting on March 16, 2022.

Aug. 2022 - City of Tempe served with a Notice of Claim for $2.5 Million

Dec. 2022 - the City of Tempe agrees to pay $300,000 to Cumpian to settle all claims related to the incident, while noting that the agreement does not constitute an admission of liability by anyone.

News Coverage

Tempe officer being investigated after holding Black man at gunpoint while looking for white suspect

Tempe officer in controversial stop had troubling history with suspects

Tempe approves $300K settlement for hotel worker after officer pulls gun on him

Overview of the Incident

Trevonyae Cumpian is 28-year-old resident of Gilbert. Known as “Tre” to his friends and family, Mr. Cumpian is a licensed electrician who has worked primarily in the service industry in recent years.

Earlier this year, after learning that he would be expecting the birth of his first child, Tre began search for another job. He was almost immediately hired as a front-desk clerk at the Hawthorn Suites hotel located at Southern Avenue and the Loop 101.

By August 29, 2020, Tre had been working at the Hawthorn Suites for about two months. That day, a little before 5 p.m., Tre’s manager, Shawn Hoover, got into an altercation with a transient who pulled a gun on him near an external door to the hotel. Pursuant to hotel policy, Mr. Hoover called the police.

Officer Kerzaya responded.

What followed is captured on Officer Kerzaya’s body-worn camera and need not be repeated here. The following undisputed facts, however are worth noting that:

(1) Officer Kerzaya was told that the suspect was a white man wearing a black shirt and tan pants;

(2) Officer Kerzaya repeated this description into his radio;

(3) Mr. Cumpian is a black man who was wearing a white shirt and black pants;

(4) after falsely claiming that Mr. Cumpian fit the description, Officer Kerzaya proceeded to hold Mr. Cumpian at gunpoint for over two minutes; and

(5) after Mr. Cumpian asked for the officer’s name and badge number, Kerzaya told him he would provide it later.

Officer Kerzaya’s body-worn camera also shows what happened after he took his gun of Mr. Cumpian: He reentered the hotel with gun drawn and pointed it at two other black men (both guests of the hotel).

At this point his back-up arrived, and Officer Kerzaya began deliberately deactivated his body camera. So this is where the video footage ended. But it is hardly the end of the story of this case.

Before Officer Kerzaya even left the scene, Mr. Cumpian spoke with Mr. Hoover about what happened. Mr. Hoover was outraged. He confronted Officer Kerzaya and demanded his name and badge number, which Officer Kerzaya refused.

The following day, Tempe Police Investigations Commander Kim Hale arrived and spoke with Mr. Hoover. When Mr. Hoover asked for an explanation of what happened, Commander Hale was unforthcoming with information and unapologetic about Officer Kerzaya’s behavior. And when Mr. Hoover requested the name and badge number of the officer who had improperly held his employee at gunpoint, Commander Hale refused to provide it – indicating only that he would have an investigator from the Internal Affairs unit follow-up.

A day later, August 31, 2020, Mr. Hoover finally received a call from Sergeant Liliana Duran. Sergeant Duran advised Mr. Hoover that the officer’s name was “Aaron Kerzaya.” After Mr. Hoover was unable to find any information on any “Aaron Kerzaya,” Sergeant Duran finally provided the officer’s actual name, Ronald Aaron Kerzaya. Armed with Officer Kerzaya’s name, Mr. Hoover was able to discern Tempe PD’s likely motivation in the misdirection: Officer Kerzaya is the lead defendant in the multi-million dollar excessive force lawsuit brought by Ivaughn Oakry.

With the lid blown off its efforts to bury Kerzaya’s misconduct, Tempe Police leadership was forced to pivot to public acknowledgment. On September 2, 2020, after learning Mr. Cumpian and Mr. Hoover were represented by counsel, Tempe PD issued a press release that Officer Kerzaya and been placed in an “administrative role” and lauding itself for its “thorough and progressive training.” It also falsely stated that Chief Moir had “personally spoke[n] with both affected hotel employees” despite the then-Chief never once calling Mr. Cumpian.

While publicly posturing as if it was taking this matter seriously and was interested in accountability and transparency, Tempe officers were privately engaging in retaliatory intimidation tactics aimed at Mr. Cumpian and his employer.

A matter of mere days after issuing the press release, Tempe Police officers broke down a door of the Hawthorne Suites hotel to arrest the visitor of a hotel guest, causing $3,000 worth of damage – despite the fact that they had already obtained a key from the front desk.
That same week, a Tempe Police Officer pulled over Mr. Hoover while he was driving, held him without any cause, and ultimately released him without even requesting his insurance or registration and refusing to tell him why he was being pulled over.
Last week, a Tempe Police Commander arrived at the hotel unannounced. Speaking only to Mr. Hoover, he did not acknowledge Mr. Cumpian’s presence, and lectured Mr. Hoover and Mr. Cumpian about calling the police in response to trespassers, belittling them and misadvising them on the law.
Most recently, a Tempe police officer showed up randomly at the hotel at a time when Mr. Cumpian was the only employee present. Wearing full tactical gear, the officer asked Mr. Cumpian a series of questions aimed not at good-faith information gathering, but at intimidation.

See Notice of Claim in Supporting Documents

See Relinquishment of Ariz. Peace Officer Certification in Supporting Documents

The US Citizen Reporters are a group of public and private defense advocates that scour the internet for documented incidents of police misconduct that have eluded accountability.

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