9 Nov 13th-Nov 19th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | “After reviewing body-cam footage, it was determined that (Nino III’s) right wrist was in front of his body when he made contact with the ground,” Gries wrote in his report. “It appeared that (his) wrist was limp when he was handcuffed on the ground, which we did not notice until we reviewed the body cam footage.” While waiting for parademics for roughly 20 minutes — a period during which no officer can be heard reading Nino III his Miranda rights, though they continued to speak to him — Nino III told officers that they had misread his family’s situation. He told him his mother struggled with alcohol and would choke him before her death when he was 11. He also claimed he witnessed Nino Jr. physically abuse his mother. Nino Jr. did not respond to a request for comment on that allegation. Court records from Rock Island County, Illinois, where Nino Jr. used to live, show that he pleaded guilty to assault in 1995, paying $340 in fines, after apparently pleading down from a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Three years later, Nino Jr. was charged with battery, though court records show the charge was dismissed. It is not clear who the alleged victim was in either case. Nothing in the police incident report from Nino III’s arrest suggests the officers took Nino III’s abuse allegations seriously. In fact, the report says that after the teen told medical staff about his alleged abuse, the staff reached out to officers to report it. “We explained the circumstances around what had occurred and his recent behavior,” Gries wrote. “We also notified medical staff that he made no statement to us at any time that his father is actually abusing him.” That last part, as body-cam footage showed, was patently false. “Despite being mandatory reporters of child abuse,” the lawsuit states, “the officers outright dismissed Sergio, telling him that he had not been abused and that Mr. Nino can hit Sergio, tackle him, and verbally abuse him.” Cops have a disciplinary record The three officers involved in Nino III’s arrest have been involved in a total of 37 use-of-force incidents since 2019, according to a police database. None of them involved a gun. Nino III’s lawsuit lays out a particularly lengthy list of civilian complaints against Willer, the officer who snatched the teen’s phone and who body-cam footage shows was largely responsible for escalating the situation. According to the lawsuit, Willer’s personnel file notes that he “has received several other similar complaints throughout his career regarding ‘rude’ or ‘unprofessional’ behavior toward citizens and supervisors.” In 2023, per the lawsuit, Willer served an order of protection to a husband in a family home. The man’s wife complained that “she felt in danger because Officer Willer told her ‘(s)hut up’ and told her if she spoke one more time she would go to jail, and he would give her children to DCS,” the lawsuit states, quoting the woman’s complaint. As a result, Phoenix Police Department officers discussed with Willer “the impor- tance of maintaining composure and not allowing emotions to get too elevated.” The lawsuit says Willer “was mandated to discuss interpersonal communications” with the department’s leadership and curriculum administrator. That same year, Willer responded to a call about a family dispute when he pushed to the ground and handcuffed a 14-year-old girl. The lawsuit says the father protested his daughter being handcuffed, only to be pushed by Willer. In a third incident, for which the lawsuit gives no date, Willer responded to a mother who called police out of concern for her minor daughter’s relationship with an adult. Willer “refused to verify the suspect’s age and appeared unwilling to conduct an appropriate investigation,” the lawsuit states, quoting Willer’s personnel file. Another officer on the scene verified the age of the suspect, who was eventually arrested. The department’s Professional Standards Bureau found that Willer “was argumentative, dismissive, and reluctant to verify the suspect’s age” and that the other officer’s intervention “likely prevented Officer Willer from neglecting his duties.” The lawsuit also notes that Smith was issued a written reprimand for a 2023 inci- dent in which he pushed a 14-year-old girl’s neck and chest after she spat on him. The girl was in a clinic after having made self- harm statements. Sergio Nino Jr. points in admonishment at his bloodied teenage son after he is arrested by Phoenix police. (Phoenix Police Department) ‘He Has No Rights’ from p 8
