{"id":1715,"date":"2026-06-14T14:33:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T14:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1715"},"modified":"2026-06-14T14:33:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T14:33:31","slug":"former-williams-lieutenant-found-not-guilty-in-use-of-force-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1715","title":{"rendered":"Former Williams Lieutenant found not-guilty in use-of-force investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Coconino County jury has found a former Williams Police lieutenant not guilty of two aggravated assault charges.<\/p>\n

Read more Gila County leaders react to possibility of state funding for flood recovery<\/a><\/p>\n

Former police lieutenant John Romero faced criminal charges after an ABC15 Investigation<\/u> uncovered concerns about his role in a violent arrest in 2022. <\/p>\n

Court records show Romero pleaded not guilty to the charges in December 2025.<\/p>\n

Questions were raised about the high-ranking lieutenant\u2019s use of force during the arrest of Brian Lopez in an ABC15 report<\/u> in 2024. <\/p>\n

Previous reviews cleared Romero of any wrongdoing, including by the former Williams police chief and an outside agency. <\/p>\n

But everything changed after the city hired a new police chief.<\/p>\n

Newly hired Williams Police Chief James Gregory said he fired Romero in April<\/u> because of his involvement in Lopez\u2019s arrest and asked the Arizona Department of Public Safety to launch a new investigation into Romero\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

City Manager Tim Petit said the investigation was launched<\/u> at the city\u2019s request after additional information was inadvertently discovered by the new police chief.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018The nightmares never stopped\u2019: Arizona veteran opens up about PTSD and loss<\/a><\/p>\n

Lopez was arrested for allegedly stealing a can of beer from a local gas station.<\/p>\n

Shortly after another officer placed 49-year-old Lopez in handcuffs, the body camera video shows Lt. Romero\u2019s hand appearing, unannounced, on his back.<\/p>\n

Romero then took Lopez to the ground while he was in handcuffs, causing a major head injury, according to reports.<\/p>\n

According to the police report, Lt. Romero justified his actions by saying that Lopez was resisting arrest and that his jacket slipped.<\/p>\n

Former officers involved in the arrest and the family of the injured man disagreed<\/u>.<\/p>\n

Read more James Harden is arrested in Houston on a misdemeanor charge of carrying a weapon in a motor vehicle<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Coconino County jury has found a former Williams Police lieutenant not guilty of two aggravated assault charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arizona-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Williams Lieutenant found not-guilty in use-of-force investigation - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1715\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Williams Lieutenant found not-guilty in use-of-force investigation - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Coconino County jury has found a former Williams Police lieutenant not guilty of two aggravated assault charges.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1715\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-14T14:33:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1715#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1715\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"Former Williams Lieutenant found not-guilty in use-of-force investigation\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-14T14:33:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1715\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1715#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e91f2b557a99ca8f2929ec28aced77ed.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Arizona News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1715#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1715\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1715\",\"name\":\"Former Williams Lieutenant found not-guilty in use-of-force investigation - 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