A Chandler police lieutenant who admitted he backhanded his teenage daughter may end up having his police officer certification temporarily suspended.
Members of the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training board voted 5-4 Wednesday to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Mace C. Ebert, a 13-year veteran of the Chandler Police Department.
The board also decided to offer Ebert a deal in which he could agree to an 80-hour suspension of his certification.
Board members were told by investigator Ted Brandon that Ebert was arrested in February after his former wife called to report that he had struck their 18-year-old daughter in the mouth during an argument.
Ebert was on duty when he met his daughter in a parking lot at 1159 W. Chandler Blvd. at her request.
The daughter wanted Ebert to test-drive the car because of noises she suspected were coming from the transmission.
The two began arguing as Ebert called around for mechanics and the teenager used an expletive.
Ebert confessed to backhanding the girl, who then went to work and called her mother.
Ebert pleaded guilty to assault and was given one year of probation.
The Chandler Police Department suspended Ebert for 80 days without pay and assigned him to a desk job pending the completion of his probation, which doesn’t allow him to be armed.
Board member Jerry Sheridan was among those who opposed disciplining Ebert.
"This was just a father trying to discipline his daughter," Sheridan said. "I’d definitely be on a different side of the fence if that had been his wife sitting there."
