Report details ex-officer's strikes on handcuffed suspects in Arizona

Buckeye Chief Robert Sanders previously issued a statement announcing that he had asked the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to conduct an independent criminal investigation into Officer Carri Carrico's actions in two separate use-of-force cases.

Carrico was later indicted by a grand jury on two counts of aggravated assault.

The department’s Professional Standards Bureau found Carrico had violated numerous policies in her handling of in-custody individuals and failed to properly document her actions or report them to her supervisors, according to internal investigation reports obtained by The Arizona Republic that totaled nearly 750 pages.

Carrico resigned in lieu of termination on June 4, according to Buckeye police spokesperson Carissa Planalp.

“To our community, I urge you to judge the Buckeye Police Department not by the conduct of one individual, but by the character and professionalism demonstrated daily by the overwhelming majority of our officers,” Sanders said in his statement.

Report: Pregnant woman booked over ‘attitude problem’

Documents describe how investigators reviewed body-camera footage from the evening of Nov. 1, 2025, when Carrico pulled over a pregnant woman on suspicion of reckless driving after she noticed the woman weaving in and out of traffic while driving nearly 70 mph in a 45 mph zone near Yuma Road and Sundance Parkway at 9:22 p.m.

After the woman pulled over, Carrico asked her if she had a reason for speeding, to which the woman responded, “Uh no,” according to the report.

Carrico then asked the woman why she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, to which the woman replied that she was, but repositioned the shoulder strap — which was behind her back — after Carrico noted she was wearing her seatbelt improperly, the report said.

The woman’s brother eventually produced an insurance document, which Carrico noted was expired and asked if they had any current insurance documents along with the vehicle’s registration, noting that the latter should be easily accessible.

The woman replied, “Well, this isn’t my car,” and rolled her eyes, according to the report, to which Carrico said, “Well, you’re driving it,” before asking, “Is there a reason for the attitude?”

The woman responded, “Yeah, because you have one.”

Carrico then ordered the woman to get out of the car and proceeded to handcuff her and escort her to the rear passenger door of her patrol vehicle, documents said. Carrico then ordered the woman to stop and, after the woman made an inaudible statement, Carrico replied, “Excuse me. I’m opening the door. How do you expect to get in a car with a door closed? Genius.”

Carrico gave the woman a pat-down, which involved running her hand along her front waistline and lifted her shirt, eliciting an “Eww,” from the woman, according to the report. Carrico replied, “Eww, you’re right, you’re gross,” before telling the woman to enter the vehicle, the report said.

‘You’re used to not wearing a seatbelt, right?’

The woman’s aunt and grandmother — the latter being the car’s owner — arrived shortly after the arrest, the report said. Investigators found that Carrico had told the woman’s family members that the decision over whether to book her into jail or not depended on her attitude, documents said.

The report noted it was department policy to cite and release people in lieu of detention whenever possible in misdemeanor matters.

As Carrico began driving to the police station, the handcuffed woman noted that Carrico hadn’t buckled her seatbelt, to which Carrico replied, “You’re used to not wearing a seatbelt, right?” and proceeded to drive to the station without buckling the woman in, the report said. The vehicle appeared to hit or drive over a curb during the trip, the report said.

The two reached the station about 10 p.m., and Carrico escorted the woman to a booking area with a bench to which arrested individuals could be handcuffed. As the woman began walking to the bench, Carrico grabbed above the woman’s elbow to guide her positioning, the report said.

The woman said “how” in response and began turning her body away from Carrico, who pulled and then pushed the pregnant woman into a wall, saying, “Knock it off, do you understand me? You are here because you’re an ass, knock it off!” the report said.

Officer struck pregnant woman’s head with an open hand, documents say

Carrico then pulled the woman back by her shirt and forcefully sat the woman down on the bench, causing her to rebound slightly from the impact, documents said. Carrico then lifted the woman’s arms upward and applied “a forward driving motion,” which caused the woman’s feet to leave the ground as she was thrust forward by Carrico’s body weight, according to the report.

As she sat back on the bench, the woman grabbed Carrico’s hand, and, when the woman didn’t immediately comply with Carrico’s order to release her grip, Carrico struck the woman in the head with an open palm, the report said.

The woman released her grip after the blow to the head.

After securing the woman to the bench, Carrico left the woman without checking her for injuries, the report said. Carrico returned after another officer had called firefighters to check on the woman after she reported that Carrico had struck her, the report said.

The woman initially declined to be taken by ambulance to the hospital, but later agreed after firefighters noted her blood pressure was high.

The department began an internal investigation after the woman, who ended up being cited and released, returned to the police station the next day to report the use-of-force incident and file a formal complaint against Carrico.

Despite police surveillance cameras clearly capturing the assault, Carrico did not document pushing the woman against a wall or striking the woman with an open palm, but instead wrote she pushed the woman with her shoulder to create space, documents said.

Carrico later told investigators she used an “open-hand push, a forearm/bodyweight push” and other descriptors with contract being near her cheek or jaw rather than the head, which wasn’t mentioned in her initial report.

She acknowledged that the booking-room footage “looks ugly” but maintained the force she used was a push and not a strike, the report said. Carrico later acknowledged that some of the comments she made toward the woman were unprofessional.

One investigator challenged Carrico’s assertion that it wasn’t a strike, noting she pulled back her arm before making contact, but Carrico claimed the video’s angle didn’t accurately depict her movement.

As for why she didn’t mention the use of force in her original report, Carrico told investigators she either believed she documented it or forgot to include it because she relied on her own memory rather than reviewing video footage.

2nd use-of-force incident during MCSO jail booking

Investigators opened a second use-of-force investigation into Carrico after receiving reports from MCSO jail staff of concerning behavior from Carrico as she and another officer were booking a man suspected of domestic violence into the jail.

Police arrested the man on Jan. 25, 2026, after his then-girlfriend said he tried to strangle her during an argument over his alcohol consumption, the report said.

Carrico and an officer in training went inside the emergency room at Abrazo West Campus Hospital to relieve another officer who had previously attempted to book the man into jail. But jail staff medically rejected him for "behavioral concerns,” the report said.

During the trip back to the MCSO jail facility, the man, whom the report described as “intoxicated” and “verbally combative,” directed profanity-laced diatribes toward Carrico specifically.

When Carrico opened the passenger door after they arrived at the jail facility, the handcuffed man head-butted her in the face, prompting Carrico and the other officer to force him to the ground, with his back hitting the side of the police vehicle, the report stated.

The two officers then brought the man to his feet, escorted him into the jail, and directed him to a bare wall. Investigators noted that the man appeared to say something that grabbed Carrico’s attention when she grabbed the back of his head and pinned his face against the wall, the report said.

The man moved his head back toward Carrico, causing her hand to slip off, the report stated. She then “pulled her arm back and forcefully extended it forward,” causing the man’s face to strike against the wall, the report said.

After MCSO detention staff directed the officers to move the man to an area with padded walls, several said they saw Carrico punch the man on the right side of his head near his ear, despite him not being combative at the time.

When questioned about her use of force against the man, Carrico told investigators she had delivered a “distraction strike,” which was a technique she had learned at her previous job with Riverside County, the report stated.

A sergeant investigating the incident repeatedly challenged and disagreed with Carrico over the need to use such force, with Carrico asserting that the video capturing the event failed to fully capture it from her perspective, documents said.

At the end of a June 2 follow-up interview with investigators over both use-of-force incidents, Carrico said, “The force that I’ve used in these incidents was the amount of force needed to overcome the resistance at that time.”

Virtual arraignment appearance weeks after resignation

Carrico appeared virtually for her arraignment in Maricopa County Superior Court on June 24. She formally entered a not guilty plea for the two aggravated assault counts.

Prosecutors with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said they were fine with Carrico remaining out of jail on her own recognizance and had no qualms with her traveling to California later that month to attend a family event.

Carrico’s next court hearing was scheduled for Sept. 3, with a current trial date of Nov. 19.