An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper resigned in 2020 after it was determined he failed to disclose an FBI investigation into his attendance at a Hezbollah training camp, even though he previously revealed the information when applying for a job with U.S. Border Patrol.
That is the information provided May 18 to the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training (AZPOST) board which voted to initiate proceedings which will likely result in the board revoking Abbas Hajaig’s state peace officer certification.
Hajaig’s resignation from DPS in October 2020 shortly after questions were raised about omissions on his application was quickly reported by DPS to AZPOST’s compliance unit. Why it took until May 2022 for board members to be advised of the matter is unclear, but what little is publicly known about Hajaig came from Compliance Specialist Arlene Heckel.
According to Heckel’s presentation to the board, Hajaig worked for DPS from Oct. 25, 2018 to Oct. 18, 2020. Prior to applying with the agency, he had applied with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (parent agency of U.S. Border Patrol) in 2014 and again in 2016.
“He advised DPS hiring staff that he had failed his [USBP] polygraph exam and had been disqualified,” Heckel said. “During Trooper Hajaig’s hiring process, the DPS hiring unit could not get any information from Border Patrol regarding their testing processes.”
Hajaig was hired by DPS. Then in October 2020, a DPS detective received a tip that Hajaig “may have given different information” on his DPS application compared to what he previously provided to USBP.
An internal DPS investigation led to information from USBP showing Hajaig “had failed to disclose several facts to the DPS hiring unit,” Heckel told the board, such as his involvement in a physical confrontation which resulted in his girlfriend being injured.
USBP records also revealed Hajaig admitted attending a Hezbollah training camp in Lebanon prior to moving to the United States. The revelation later led to an FBI investigation which Hajaig was aware of, Heckel said.
But none of that information was documented by Hajaig on his DPS employment application or during his polygraph, nor listed by him on his application to AZPOST for peace officer certification, according to Heckel.
On Oct. 16, 2020, Hajaig admitted to investigators he had not shared any of that information during his DPS hiring process. However, he claimed the FBI advised him during an interview that he did not need to disclose the training camp attendance nor the FBI investigation to anyone else.
Hajaig resigned from DPS two days later.
Under AZPOST rules, Hajaig will receive written notification of the board’s recent action and provided an opportunity to address the allegations. It often takes a few months for the process to play out, but at some point the
DPS director Col. Heston Silbert is a member of the AZPOST board. He recused himself from Heckel’s presentation and subsequent vote.
