Kidnapping

A Review Board Recommends Firing PPD Sergeant Phil Roberts for Rampant Allegations Against Fellow Cops

Baby Gabriel Mom Elizabeth Johnson Found Guilty of Three Charges, but Not Kidnapping

Nearly three years after 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson was reported missing, the boy's mother, Elizabeth Johnson, was not found guilty of kidnapping. However, a jury did find her guilty of unlawful imprisonment and two custodial-interference charges.The kidnapping charge is the one that Johnson's atto ... More >>

Joe Arpaio "Kidnapped"? Ex-DEA Honcho Phil Jordan Cries Foul

See also: Sheriff Joe buffaloes readers with bogus yarns in his book Joe's Law See also: Arpaio denies writing, reading or agreeing with his book "JOE'S LAW" See also: Joe Arpaio's Early Christmas Gift from President Obama and the U.S. Attorney's Office See also: The Feds Proved Themselves a Cage of ... More >>

Scottsdale Woman Allegedly Kidnapped By Ex-Boyfriend, Says She Had No Idea It Was Him

​A Scottsdale woman was kidnapped from her garage yesterday and driven to a bank, where she was told by her kidnapper to empty her account or he'd harm her and her mother. A bank teller tipped off the cops, who came and arrested their suspect -- 40-year-old Thanh Andrew Harlan.Scottsdale Officer D ... More >>

Self-Proclaimed Whistleblower Phil Roberts Wasn't Retaliated Against by the Phoenix Police Department, Feds Say

​ Phoenix police officials should have more closely examined allegations made by police Sergeant Phil Roberts about falsified border-related kidnapping statistics before deciding to investigate him for making those claims, according to a federal investigative report obtained by New Times. That mes ... More >>

Phil Roberts Exaggerated the Phoenix PD's Kidnapping Statistics, Then Tried to Debunk His Own Numbers

Alleged Rapist to Witnesses: "That's My Baby-Mama, She Fine"

MCSOChristopher Shahin​When confronted by two women as he was having sex in his car, Christopher Nader Shahin told them that the girl with whom he was having sex was his "baby mama" and that "she fine." Turns out, the girl wasn't his "baby mama," she was a 14-year-old he'd just kidnapped from a gr ... More >>

Phoenix Police Rescue Kidnapping Victim. Now the Hard Part: Recording it as a Kidnapping

​Phoenix police rescued a 21-year-old man yesterday who was run off the road while driving his car in Tucson, kidnapped at gunpoint, bound, driven to Phoenix, and held for ransom.The Phoenix Police Department was alerted by a local media outlet that a woman called to report that her brother wa ... More >>

Morning Poll: Does Review of Phoenix Kidnapping Stats Vindicate Former Police Chief Jack Harris

Jack Harris, it turns out, is not a statistic-inflating liar.​Former Phoenix police Chief Jack Harris was forced out of office because of allegations that his department inflated kidnapping statistics in order to obtain extra federal bucks. However, a panel reviewing the Phoenix's kidnapping numbe ... More >>

Kidnapping Statistics Review Panel Finds No Fraud Committed by Phoenix Police Department

Phoenix police officials cleared of fraud allegations by panel charged with reviewing kidnapping statistics.​A panel convened to review the kidnapping statistics Phoenix touted in 2008 found that Phoenix police officials did not intentionally inflate those figures.In fact, the panel found there we ... More >>

Mark Spencer's PLEA Supported Kidnapping Stats

From PLEA's RECAP newsletter, dated June 2008As I've pointed out in my cover story this week on Phoenix Law Enforcement Association president Mark Spencer and his sleazy ways, PLEA swallowed the Phoenix Police Department's controversial kidnapping stats whole hog at one time. Long before they used ... More >>

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris Is Retiring -- Again

Public Safety Manager/Police Chief Jack Harris is retiring today.​After months of controversy over whether the Phoenix Police Department intentionally inflated kidnapping statistics to get federal funding, the city's top cop has announced he is retiring today.Public Safety Manager Jack Harris had ... More >>

Pinal County Man Jumps From Own Moving Vehicle to Escape Kidnapper

PCSOCops found this AK-47 in the victim's car. Holding it was the man's alleged kidnapper, 23-year-old Carlos Cervante-Lopez.​A Pinal County man really didn't want to drive the man who'd just kidnapped him from Eloy to Phoenix early yesterday morning, which prompted him to jump from his own moving ... More >>

An Outside Panel Will Probe Whether the PPD's Numbers on Kidnappings Were Cooked

Phoenix Kidnapping Statistics: Review Panel Includes Retired Judges, FBI Agent

Karen Thoreson will chair the committee charged with reviewing Phoenix kidnapping stats​A panel of independent experts charged with reviewing Phoenix's kidnapping statistics will be headed by Karen Thoreson, president of Alliance for Innovation. The other members are retired FBI Agent Larry ... More >>

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris Not Clear On The Real Issue Involving Inaccurate Kidnapping Stats; New Times Helps Set the Record Straight

Let's be clear about a few things regarding Phoenix's kidnapping statistics snafu.Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris tells the Arizona Republic that he is outraged at what is happening in the community regarding kidnappings and other crimes, and he adds:"If anyone doubts we have a home-inv ... More >>

Kiddy-Porn Star Gets Prison Time for Bizarre Kidnapping Plot and Sex With Teen Girl

Michael Raymond Ward​A Scottsdale pervert was sentenced to prison and a lifetime of probation by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Karen O'Connor today for recording himself having sex with a then-14-year-old girl and concocting a kidnapping scheme that was foiled by federal law enforceme ... More >>

Phoenix Police Department Finally Admits Problems With Border-Related Kidnapping Statistics; Agency Spent Months Misleading Public

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris ​Phoenix police officials finally admitted that the border-related kidnappings statistics they trumpeted for years are not accurate, blaming the problem on "challenges with how cases are classified."   The admission from the police department ... More >>

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris Moving to City Hall? New Times Sources Say That's What's Going Down

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris​Sources tells New Times that city officials have been behind closed doors all day trying to figure out what's next after police finally admitted there are inaccuracies with the agency's reported U.S.-Mexico border related kidnapping statistics.   T ... More >>

Jack Harris to Detectives: Don't Spend Federal Grant Money Awarded to Phoenix Police to Combat Border-Related Kidnappings

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris​While a federal audit of the Phoenix Police Department's kidnapping statistics is under way, Police Chief Jack Harris has ordered his troops not to spend any of the $700,000 they collected from the feds to combat border-related kidnapping cases.The Depar ... More >>

Phoenix Cops May Have Inflated Kidnapping Stats to Get Federal Bucks

Police Arrest Six Illegal Immigrants in Human Smuggling Operation; Cops Find a Bunch of Weed Too

MCSO Francisco Ruben Martinez-Granillo, charged with possession of marijuana for sale, kidnapping for ransom, smuggling humans for profit, and theft by extortion.​Police arrested six illegal immigrants in Phoenix Wednesday, accusing them of charges ranging from human smuggling, kidnapping f ... More >>

New Times' Review of Phoenix Kidnapping Stats Reveals Most Not Linked to Border-Related Crimes as Phoenix Officials Reported

​Phoenix police reported that there were 358 kidnapping calls in their community during 2008, and that a majority of them were linked to drug and human smuggling across the Arizona-Mexico border. In recent months, Phoenix police union leaders have raised questions about the veracity of those stat ... More >>

Sex Offender Uses Old Puppy Behind the Building Trick to Lure 9-Year-Old into Car

Convicted perv Jeff Van Wagoner played it old school when he kidnapped a 9-year-old girl by claiming he found a puppy.​Any faith we had in the creativity of sex offenders is now gone thanks to a Mesa perv who's still using the promise of puppies to lure children into cars. The scary part is that i ... More >>

Arizona Sex Offender Brain Dead After Hanging Himself in Montana Jail

Phillip Humeyumptewa, multiple rapist, failed to kill himself on Monday.​A career scumbag believed to be responsible for multiple sexual assaults and kidnappings is brain dead after trying to hang himself in a Montana jail on Monday.Phillip Humeyumptewa was found dangling from a bed sheet in his j ... More >>

Phoenix Police: There Is No Criminal Investigation of PD Over Kidnapping Stats, Feds Conducting Standard Audit

​Kidnapping statistics tallied by the Phoenix Police Department are getting called into question --again. Two Valley news stations have reported that the Phoenix Police Department, including Public Safety Manager (read: Police Chief) Jack Harris and Mayor Phil Gordon, are under inves ... More >>

Kumari Fulbright, "Beauty Queen" Made Famous by Heinous Mug Shot, is Heading to Prison

Hide your children.​Kumari Fulbright, the former "beauty queen" and law student, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping after the bizarre kidnapping and torture of her ex-boyfriend two years ago, was sentenced to two years in prison and six months probation by a Pima County Superi ... More >>

Two Charged in Phoenix Drop House Case

Jaime Cruz-Gutierrez and Olga Marinos Fuentes​The Phoenix Police Department has identified two individuals arrested after cops busted up a Phoenix drop house where authorities found nine children being held captive.Jaime Cruz-Gutierrez, 44, and Olga Marinos Fuentes, 41, were seen leaving the house ... More >>

Ex-Fiance of Former "Beauty" Queen/U of A Law Student Convicted of Kidnapping and Assault

This is what happens when you feed Kumari Fulbright after midnight.​The ex-fiance of Kumari Fulbright, the former "beauty" queen/University of Arizona law student, most famous for terrifying us all with her Gremlin-esque mugshot, was convicted yesterday for his role in the 2007 kidnapping of ... More >>

Sheriff Paul Babeu Quick to Point Out Gun Shot Wound on Kidnapping Victim Not Self-Inflicted; We've Heard That Before

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu​We were hit with a case of deja vu this morning when we read a press release from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office about a pair of illegal immigrants who were kidnapped and left in the desert, with one of the victims having been shot.The story itself isn't what jar ... More >>

Kidnapping Capital, USA: Phoenix Teen Kidnapped While Loading Family Car

Karla Gabriela Lizzaraga-Sanchez​Phoenix isn't the kidnapping capital of the United States for nothing. We get that wrap because...well...a lot of kidnappings happen in the Valley -- as pointed out in the New Times feature "Seized." Check it out here.A Phoenix teen is the latest victim of this cit ... More >>

ICE Rescues 9-Year-Old Ecuadorian Boy After He Was Held Hostage in Mesa for More Than Four Months

​A suspected human smuggler is behind bars after allegedly holding a 9-year-old Ecuadorian boy hostage for more than four months and demanding $4,000 from his family for his release.Ecuadorian nationals, the family was unable to pay the ransom, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement agen ... More >>

Monster Problem

Abductions aren't just for aliens

Asylum Denied: Unlike Refugees from Other Troubled Countries, Only a Fraction of Mexicans Seeking U.S. Asylum Are Accepted -- No Matter Their Wounds or Stories

Seized: Inside the Brutal World of America's Kidnapping Capital

Kidnapped Salvadoran Kids Rescued by ICE Agents in Phoenix

  ​Three kids from El Salvador, held for ransom after their parents paid to have them smuggled into the United States, were released in Phoenix after ICE agents began working the case. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau got wind of the kidnapping on M ... More >>

Second Suspect Caught in Kidnapping of Four; Victims Turned Up Safe In California

  Image: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Fernando Beltran, 27, admitted to kidnapping four people in Phoenix last week, cops say.​A second suspect was arrested in the brazen, daylight kidnapping last week of four family members in Phoenix, and the victims were released unha ... More >>

Kidnapping Suspect Busted -- But Still No Trace of Four Family Members

  Image: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Cesar Angeles-Ballester (a.k.a. Angeles-Ballesteros) was arrested in connection with last week's brazen kidnapping of four people.Four family members kidnapped in Phoenix last week remain missing despite the arrest of a man who allegedly tr ... More >>

Hot Links: A School Bus Crash, Kidnappings, and Arctic Birds

​A school bus crashed in Mesa early this morning, injuring the bus driver and some of the ten students on board. The bus, from Desert Hills High School, was rear-ended by a pickup truck hauling a tractor near Val Vista and University Drive. The driver of the truck, the bus driver, and three studen ... More >>

Sal DiCiccio Veers Off Message -- "Worried" About Kidnapping in Phoenix

Sal DiCiccio​Phoenix city officials have been going out of the way to assure residents that the whole "kidnapping capital of the world" thing is media hype -- and that you, your family, and any tourists who want to visit town are absolutely safe here.Someone apparently forgot to get the message to ... More >>

Phoenix Cops Bust Kidnapping Victim's Buddies After Investigation

  Phoenix police recently arrested two kidnapping "victims" in a case that shows the challenges of investigating immigration-related crime. The incident occurred a few days ago, when police received a call about a suspected kidnapping involving a migrant, says. Lt. Laur ... More >>

Phoenix Kidnappings: FBI's Role Minimal in Immigration-Related Cases

  The FBI is the nation's premier agency when it comes to kidnappings, right? Well, not in Phoenix, the so-called kidnapping capital of the country. The FBI decided years ago that it would try not to get involved when the kidnappings involve immigrants and human smugglers. Both the FBI and ... More >>

FBI to Focus More on Kidnappings and Other Southwest Border Crimes, says Holder

Just in time for our blog post today about the role of the FBI in the Phoenix kidnapping crisis comes a major announcement that the FBI will focus more on the problem as part of a strategy to combat cartel violence. In a statement made today during his trip in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Hold ... More >>

Kidnappers' Getaway Car Photographed in Phoenix; Man Snatched on Saturday From Clothing Store

  Police today released a photograph of a car apparently speeding away from the armed kidnapping of a man from a Phoenix clothing store. The black, 1990s Lincoln Mercury was one of three getaway vehicles used by the suspects. While no evidence of the crime can be seen ... More >>

Child Kidnapping Shows Callousness of Smugglers -- and Desperation of Immigrant Parents

Flushing Them Out

Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas are teaching the rest of the nation how to terrorize illegal immigrants

Clients of Industry

Brazil's kidnapping epidemic spawns its own supply-and-demand economy

The Ransom of Redford

Veteran actors breathe life into an old storyline

Hostage Crisis

Proof of Life kidnaps the audience, then tortures it to a slow death

Citizen Arcane

John Waters lacerates Hollywood in divinely inspired Cecil B. Demented