Officer Azuar, 50, was shot and killed on April 12, 2000 after he and another officer attempted to serve an arrest warrant on Joseph Teitgen, 34, for failing to serve a 90-day jail sentence on a grand theft conviction and weapons violations. The incident occurred at 1430 hours at 2039 Tennessee Street. Azuar received the call to assist in Teitgen’s arrest while he was filling in on an early shift. The officers found the suspect who was a carpet layer, hiding in a garage of the residence after Joseph Teitgen’s wife let the officers into the home. At the time she was with her 3 year old daughter and her 2 sons were on the way home from school. The suspect began physically resisting arrest and Teitgen broke free of Officer Wilcox, tried to flee up a staircase and fired a .357 revolver three times. One of the shots struck Azuar, who was pursuing Teitgen up the stairs, in the head. A third officer who had arrived on scene, Sgt Larry Rogers, returned fire and seriously wounded the suspect in the chest. Officer Azuar was transported to Sutter – Solano Hospital where he was pronounced dead. His K-9 A.J. was waiting outside the home in his police cruiser when Officer Azuar was shot. He had been a canine handler since 1993. His first canine, Rondo, was stabbed to death in the line of duty in 1997. Close to 100 K-9 officers from around the state sat with their K-9 partners at their feet on Corbus Field at the Vallejo High School where funeral services were held for Azuar on Tuesday, April 18. They were a vivid reminder of how much he loved being a dog handler. More than 4,000 local residents and law enforcement personnel filled the high school’s track field to grieve and pay their last respects to the beloved police officer slain in the line of duty. Friends say Azuar was deeply connected to his community, recognized by children from his many visits to schools with his dogs, a friend to his neighbors and a true community police officer who befriended local business owners and who would return weeks after an initial call to check up on people he had helped. The ceremony ended with seven police helicopters flying overhead in Missing Man formation and nine doves being released. The doves followed the path of the lone helicopter. Capt. Tom Hauser played the bagpipes while the American flag was ceremoniously folded and Chief Nichelini handed it to Azuar’s daughter. A badge with his badge number was then placed around Azuar’s K-9 partner, A.J.’s, neck. After the service, hundreds of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances from around the state snaked through Vallejo toward the Skyview Memorial Cemetery where the interment took place. His first police dog, Rondo, an 8-year-old German shepherd who had been his partner for 4 ½ years, was stabbed to death in July 1997 by a suspect in a hit-and-run accident. The dog died in Azuar’s arms. Azuar participated in the K-9 Police Olympics placing third in his division. He and his K-9s were known throughout the City of Vallejo and known for their visits to the schools and organizations throughout Solano County. Officer Azuar had been with the Vallejo Police Department in California for 21 years and is survived by his 25 year old daughter, Amanda.
Teitgen had a lengthy criminal history. At one time Teitgen had served as a drug informant in Napa in an attempt to win leniency at sentencing in a check fraud case. Teitgen’s criminal history began in 1986 when he was arrested for spouse abuse and carrying a concealed weapon in public. In 1991, Teitgen was arrested in Solano County for carrying a concealed weapon, grand theft and auto theft. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. In 1993, he was convicted of grand theft, and served 30 days in jail, with three years’ probation. Later, four bench warrants were issued against him for failing to comply with terms of his probation. In July, 1999 he was arrested for grand theft in Fairfield, CA. Teitgen’s first murder trial in 2003, which carried a possible death penalty, ended in a hung jury after nine days of deliberations. In the first trial they convicted Teitgen of the attempted murder charge of Officer Douglas Wilcox who had wrestled with the defendant, but deadlocked on the first degree murder charge
