Last year, two former Shelby County deputies were involved in a distressing incident that has led to their potential decertification. Michael Yzaguirre and Sheldon Smith, formerly employed by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office (SCSO), reportedly brought a drunk woman to a hotel, where it has been alleged that Yzaguirre engaged in sexual intercourse with her, according to documentation obtained by Action News 5.
The case, which continues to unfold, traces back to an incident on June 9, 2024, when Smith discovered the intoxicated woman slumped over in a vehicle displaying signs of damage. ABC24 reports that despite requirements by Tennessee law to check for further damage, arrest the primary aggressor in an asserted domestic assault, and conduct a field sobriety test, Smith failed to execute these duties. Instead, he opted to assist the woman to a hotel room. "Smith's body-worn camera was not on while she was escorted to the hotel, which equates to willful neglect of duty," writes Smith's termination record, as reported by ABC24.
Yzaguirre, who was off-duty at the time, is accused of having sex with the woman, who, based on her level of intoxication, "was unable to fully consent to the encounter," a grave detail revealed in his termination documents and shared by Action News 5. The SCSO asserts that Yzaguirre and Smith initially misled the department about the woman's level of intoxication and the particularities of the incident.
Additional reports by FOX13 Memphis reveal that Yzaguirre accessed the W.A.S.P. database multiple times during the investigation of his actions. Both former deputies are to go before the Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST) Committee for an informal hearing, with a vote set to determine whether to proceed with a formal decision on their decertification. The POST Committee will then meet again formally to decide if the former deputies should be decertified.
The unfolding story has also brought to light that Yzaguirre was a previous recipient of "Deputy of the Month" in May 2022 and is the son of a sheriff's office veteran currently running for sheriff. Despite Tennessee law categorizing non-consensual sex as rape, a Class B felony, the SCSO told FOX13 Memphis that the woman declined to prosecute, leaving the district attorney's office to determine the possibility of other criminal charges.
