Incident

Incident Description

On May 7, 2023, BPD officers, including Officer Justin Ayala, responded to a dispute between a mother and her 14-year-old daughter. Upon arrival, several officers spoke with the mother in front of her home while the daughter stood across the street (approximately 15–20 feet away), yelling and cursing at her mother and the officers.

The officers and the mother discussed leaving the daughter outside and departing since the dispute had ended. During this exchange, Officer Ayala made several unprofessional and discourteous remarks:

• “I can’t deal with that shit for four more years”

• “You got four years, fuck that shit.”

• “I ain’t worried about her, she didn’t do nothing anyways.”

• Recounting a prior encounter: “Last time she got out of the car, she’s a pussy, she ran.”

• “People that want to fight us, you know what they do? They hop out the car and they fight us. They don’t talk about how they want to fight us. She ran like a pussy.”

The daughter overheard these comments, yelled at officers, and approached them. Officer Ayala motioned toward her and said, “C’mon, c’mon, I’m right here, c’mon.”

When the daughter reached toward him, Officer Ayala grabbed her arms and took her to the ground. Other officers assisted with handcuffing.

During the restraint, one officer asked, “Still think it’s a smart idea?”

The daughter responded, “No.”

The officer then said, “Then shut the fuck up.”

After handcuffing, Officer Ayala and another officer stood the daughter up and escorted her to a patrol car. During transport, her arms were pulled upward toward her shoulders.

In his interview with the Office of the Attorney General(OAG), Officer Ayala stated the daughter allegedly refused to walk, so they tilted her body forward, which caused her arms to move higher, but denied they were lifted to shoulder height. The body-worn camera footage did not show verbal commands or resistance at this point.

The daughter was charged with obstructing governmental administration in the 2nd degree and resisting arrest. The arrest report stated she resisted by, “tensing her body and attempting to recoil both her arms beneath her chest.” She sustained road rash injuries to her face from the takedown and arrest.

Post-Incident Review

During his OAG interview, Officer Ayala admitted his comments were made out of frustration and acknowledged they were inappropriate.

BPD’s internal investigation ended with a finding of “other.” Officer Ayala was required to attend a supervisor conference regarding his conduct.

BPD found that Officer Ayala violated:

• Rules & Regulations, Chapter I, Section 2.13 (discourtesy/unprofessional conduct)

• Use of Force Policy, Section 6.2(J) – officers “should not use tactics that unnecessarily escalate an encounter or create a need for force.”

The review concluded that Officer Ayala’s unprofessional comments directly escalated the situation, provoking the daughter and resulting in unnecessary force, avoidable injuries, and an arrest without probable cause for obstruction.

Officer Ayala committed misconduct during this incident by using insulting and provocative language toward a 14-year-old, encouraging physical confrontation, and violating BPD’s standards of professional conduct and use of force policy.