An Englewood Police Department officer was fired and faces multiple assault charges after he allegedly tased and choked a man without probable cause during a traffic stop last month.

Ryan Vasina, 30, is accused of second- and third-degree assault, as well as first-degree official misconduct, after he allegedly verbally and physically assaulted Carlos Rangel-Rincones, 20, during a traffic stop in October, according to a probable cause affidavit for Vasina’s arrest.

Vasina was fired from the EPD last month as a result of the incident, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Rangel-Rincones is originally from Venezuela and speaks little English, according to the affidavit. Vasina did not use the translation services provided to officers for such circumstances, said Chief David Jackson at a news conference Tuesday morning.

“This was a lack of compliance on the part of the officer,” Jackson said. “I just can’t help but think that if he would have just taken his time, been a little more deliberate, been a little bit more thoughtful, waited for backup, I think the incident could have been handled.”

Before coming to Englewood last November, Vasina was employed by Colorado State Patrol, Jackson said. The chief also noted that Vasina was a probationary officer who had not yet completed his year-long probationary status.

The incident began the night of Oct. 8 around 11 p.m. when Vasina saw Rangel-Rincones’ blue 2007 Audi convertible put on its turn signal and turn right at the intersection of South Layton Street and South Lincoln Street without first stopping at a stop sign, according to the affidavit.

After Vasina activated his lights and pulled the Audi over, he walked up to the car on the right side and began a lengthy conversation with Rangel-Rincones in English and broken Spanish, according to the affidavit and body-worn camera video from the arrest published by the department.

“I need your license,” Vasina said.

“Pero por que (but why),” Rangel-Rincones replied.

“There is no por que, licencia,” Vasina responded.

The exchange continued back and forth for a little longer before Vasina called dispatch to send another unit and told Rangel-Rincones to turn the car off, to which the man complied, according to the affidavit and video. Vasina then asked him for “llaves” (keys) and Rangel-Rincones replied “por que laves?”

During his interview with investigators, Rangel-Rincones said he remained calm while Vasina was getting agitated, according to the affidavit. He added that he didn’t understand what Vasina was saying, as the officer was mixing English in with Spanish.

At one point, Vasina said over the radio that Rangel-Rincones was fighting him, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. At no point during the investigation did authorities find any evidence of the driver fighting the officer in any manner.

After a few more words back and forth, Vasina put on rubber gloves, called for backup, walked around the car and opened the Audi’s drivers-side door, according to the video. One of the officers who was coming in as backup spoke conversational Spanish, Jackson said.

“Get out,” Vasina can be heard on the video. “We’re not going to play this. Get out of the car. Let me see your f—ing hand.”

Rangel-Rincones can be heard throughout the video asking the officer in Spanish what Vasina wanted him to do.

A few moments later, the footage shows Vasina pulling out a taser and telling the man “I’m going to tase you.” Rangel-Rincones didn’t respond. Vasina waited a moment before firing at the driver.

Vasina then pulled Rangel-Rincones out of the car and put him into a chokehold on the ground, a violation of both the department’s policy and state law, said 18th Judicial District Attorney Amy Padden during the news conference. The chokehold lasted about 12 seconds and the officer did not offer the man any water afterward, despite requests from Rangel-Rincones.

“The driver did not resist, fight or fail to comply with any lawful order before force was used against him,” Padden said.

Rangel-Rincones told investigators that he would have gotten out of the car if he knew that’s what Vasina was asking him to do, according to the affidavit. The man had been stopped before for previous violations and, in those cases, the officers provided a translator and the incidents resulted in a ticket without any further issues.

One of those violations had taken place in April, when Vasina pulled Rangel-Rincones over in a separate traffic stop, Jackson said. That stop took place without incident.

Rangel-Rincones was originally arrested and booked into jail on multiple charges, all of which were dismissed after review by the office, according to the release. Vasina faces several charges from the incident, including felony second-degree assault for alleged strangulation, misdemeanor third-degree assault and first-degree official misconduct.

The felony assault charges carries a possibility of 2-8 years in prison, Padden said.

Jackson did not refrain from expressing the disappointment he felt that one of his 80 Englewood officers had committed such an act.

“I felt that some of the language violated our values, I felt that the taser violated our policy and I felt like the neck encirclement violated the law,” Jackson said during the conference. “I’ve been a police officer for a long time, I certainly know all the criticisms of police, and it was very disappointing.”

This story was first reported Monday by The Denver Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS.