Mesa prosecutor who reportedly called colleague c-word has previously made death threats

It started with a Mesa prosecutor calling a colleague the c-word during a mock trial in late January, and now new abusive language has come to light.

Arizona's Family has uncovered documents that reveal he's previously made death threats.

As of Thursday night, prosecutor Stephen Bridger is still employed with the City of Mesa, though on paid administrative leave.

"This is enough for a person to file a bar complaint when you're disrespecting and using foul and derogatory language against another attorney," said attorney Benjamin Taylor.

Taylor, who has no relation to the incident, said from an outside perspective the derogatory comment is reason enough for a bar complaint to be filed.

But Arizona's Family has learned about a new incident involving Bridger.

According to a July 2018 Phoenix Police report, Bridger verbally threatened his estranged wife's boyfriend, first telling him "I'm going to kick your a**." Then becoming more hostile saying, "I will beat the f**k out of you" and later saying "I would murder you."

Sources called this is ironic, since Bridger prosecutes the more serious domestic violence cases in the prosecutor's office.

"This shows you the culture of the City of Mesa and the City Prosecutor's Office to allow a prosecutor like this to have so much power when they had a past history of domestic violence," Taylor said.

We asked the City of Mesa if they knew about the police report, but a spokesperson said, "no comment."

Ethics attorney Nancy Greenlee, also not connected to the incident, said the state bar could choose to investigate Bridger separately from the Mesa investigation, though we likely wouldn't know about it.

"While they're investigating, it's somewhat confidential," said Greenlee.

The state bar is aware of the incidents involving Bridger but couldn't comment due to confidentiality rules.

Bridger declined to comment to Arizona's Family and so did the City of Mesa, aside from that the investigation is pending.

Taylor said the state bar could punish an attorney for ethics violations both on and off the clock