Anthony Hair Case: Resignation, Decertification, and Charges

Anthony Hair is a former San Diego police officer who resigned in September 2023 after an internal investigation found he had gone off route while transporting a female detainee, switched off his body-worn camera, and climbed into the locked backseat of his patrol car with her. California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training permanently revoked his peace officer certification in July 2024 after sustaining findings of dishonesty and sexual assault.¹

What Happened on the Transport

On August 14, 2023, Hair responded to an auto theft call outside a 7-Eleven in Bay Park and arrested a woman on an outstanding warrant. He had been with the San Diego Police Department for two years.² After stops at a University City substation and downtown headquarters, he began driving her to the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility in Santee.³

During the drive, body-worn camera audio captured the detainee asking Hair if he was single and making sexually explicit comments. Hair told her not to say that “because everything is being recorded right now.”⁴ He then deactivated the camera, turned off the patrol car’s headlights and parking lights on a dark residential side street several blocks short of the detention facility, and radioed dispatch to falsely report he had already arrived.¹

Hair placed his body-worn camera on the driver’s seat, got into the rear passenger compartment with the detainee, and closed the door behind him. He locked himself in. About twenty minutes later he called another officer for a master key, sounding, that officer said, panicked and “really embarrassed.” A supervisor arrived roughly thirty minutes after the stop and freed them both.⁴

The Medical-Emergency Story

Once out of the car, Hair told fellow officers, criminal investigators, and his written arrest report the same thing: the detainee had stopped breathing, and he had gotten into the backseat to help with a medical emergency.¹ He never called for medical assistance, which investigators noted would be the standard response.³ Internal affairs concluded he had fabricated the account. Hair separately said the door had “accidentally shut” on him.⁴

The detainee, interviewed separately, denied that any sexual contact occurred. She did tell investigators that Hair had asked her personal questions, requested her phone number, and expressed interest in meeting her after her release.³ Hair also denied sexual contact.

Resignation and Department Findings

SDPD opened both criminal and administrative investigations. Internal affairs found Hair had violated at least seven department policies, including requirements to keep his body-worn camera recording during prisoner transport, to monitor detainees at all times, and to report any suspected medical emergency. Investigators also found he broke the law by falsifying police reports.²

Department policy is specific on this point: a male officer may transport a female prisoner alone only if the body-worn camera is recording throughout the trip.⁵ Deactivating the camera removed the one safeguard that would have documented the backseat.

Hair resigned on September 14, 2023, one day before he was scheduled for a second interview with internal affairs.¹ A department spokesperson said SDPD “takes all allegations and acts of misconduct seriously.”³

Permanent Loss of Peace Officer Certification

SDPD sent a serious misconduct complaint to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training in November 2023. POST found clear and convincing evidence of two categories of serious misconduct.

Dishonesty: Hair created and maintained a false medical-emergency narrative with investigators and in official reports, and tampered with his body-worn camera to conceal his actions.
Sexual assault: Under POST regulations, propositioning for or committing any sexual act while on duty qualifies as sexual assault. Investigators found that diverting from the route, concealing his location, deactivating the camera, and entering the locked rear compartment with a detainee who had propositioned him met that definition.

The findings corresponded to violations of Penal Code Section 13510.8(b)(1) and (b)(4) and Title 11 California Code of Regulations Section 1205(a)(1) and (a)(4).¹

POST served a notice of intent to revoke on May 16, 2024. Officers have thirty days to request a review; Hair did not respond. A default revocation order issued on July 23, 2024 permanently stripped him of his peace officer certification.¹ Under POST rules, a revocation is permanent: the certification cannot be reactivated, and the individual may not exercise peace officer powers.⁶

Criminal Charges

SDPD opened a criminal investigation alongside its administrative probe, but the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office declined to confirm whether it was pursuing charges as of mid-2024.³ No criminal charges or civil filings involving Hair have appeared in publicly available reporting or records since then.

1
California POST. Hair, Anthony – Statement of Findings
2
Fox 5 San Diego. Report Released on San Diego Police Officer Who Got Locked in Backseat With Female Arrestee
3
NBC San Diego. SDPD Investigates Former Officer Stuck in Back of Patrol Car With Female Arrestee
4
NewsNation. San Diego Cop Backseat Arrestee Anthony Hair
5
San Diego Police Department. Procedure 6.01 – Handcuffing, Restraining, Searching and Transporting Procedures
6
California POST. Peace Officer Certification Actions