Local officials aim to oust Arizona sheriff leading Nancy Guthrie investigation over perjury allegations
Local officials in Arizona are pushing to remove Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who is leading the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
At least two Pima County supervisors plan to file a motion to have the sheriff’s office vacated if Nanos doesn’t step down by Tuesday, which marks 100 days since Guthrie vanished from her Tucson, Arizona, home.
They allege Nanos lied under oath during a deposition for an unrelated lawsuit when he denied being suspended during his years as a police officer in El Paso, Texas, before he joined the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in the 1980s.
“A unanimous vote of the disciplinary board at that time for a whole host of problems said, ‘Hey, he can’t be a cop anymore. He’s just bad at this and he’s not upholding our standards … he’s got to go,'” said Dr. Matt Heinz, a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
CBS News obtained the El Paso Police Department records that show Nanos was suspended several times for a number of alleged infractions, including “unnecessary violence” and tardiness.
“He has definitely lost the confidence of the community. He’s embarrassed himself, and it’s time for him to go,” Heinz said.
An attorney for Nanos said in a letter, “Sheriff Nanos did not understand the question related to discipline with a different agency not governed by the Arizona Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights. In reviewing the transcript shortly after his deposition, Sheriff Nanos spotted the misunderstanding and promptly notified his attorney.”
The push to oust Nanos comes days after he faced criticism over his handling of the Guthrie case from FBI Director Kash Patel, who claimed the department took too long to get the FBI involved.
“For four days, we were kept out of the investigation,” Patel claimed in a podcast interview with Sean Hannity on Tuesday.
In response, the sheriff’s department posted a statement from Nanos on social media that said a member of the FBI task force was on the scene the night Guthrie was first reported missing. Two days later, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department held a news conference with the FBI.
Heinz insists the effort to remove Nanos has nothing to do with the Guthrie case and everything to do with the sheriff’s record.
“In no way has the Guthrie investigation ever factored into this. It really hasn’t,” he said.
