Subject: Robbery

• Joe Watson, the Salon Bandit?

  April 2, 2007

• WHEN GUNPLAY BACKFIRESHE USED A TOY PISTOL IN A "JOKE" ROBBERY, BUT THE AUTHORITIES WEREN'T LAUGHING

  October 21, 1992

• "What Do They Do With Judges Who Do Things Like This?"

  Mitchell Vanorsby was awaiting trial for armed robbery when a judge let him out of jail. Now he's back behind bars, awaiting trial for murder.

  February 15, 1996

• The Great Zia Robbery

  June 13, 1996

• Glendale's Witness-Protection Program

  September 18, 1997

• Sin of a Preacher Man

  New evidence in unsolved Phoenix murder leads to a Tacoma man of God

  February 12, 1998

• Slack in the Saddle

  Newton Boys, Linklater fail to conquer any new frontiers

  March 26, 1998

• Letters

  June 4, 1998

• Letters

  June 25, 1998

• Phoenix Film Festival: Bronson

  April 2, 2009

• Car Theft by the Numbers

  August 19, 2004

• "Ma Barker" and Teen Robbery Crew Arrested in Phoenix, Cops Say; Mom and Sons, 12 & 14 years old Sought Victims

  Image: www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk Police are accusing a Phoenix woman, her two young sons and their friends of a series of local robberies, comparing the woman to the infamous Midwestern criminal of the 1930s, "Ma" Barker. Actually, this crime makes Ma Barker look like Mother Theresa. "It's absolutely scary -- and it's disgusting," says Detective James Holmes of the Phoenix police.         Like Barker, Cynthia Roberson is accused of helping her sons commit crimes. P

  June 1, 2009

• Peoria Bank Robber Cuts Hole In Wall, Surprises Bank Employees Arriving for Work

  Holy bank robbery, Batman! (Or maybe it should be hole-y). Cops and the FBI are looking for a robber with above-average planning skills who forced the employees of a Peoria bank to open a cash vault. On Tuesday morning, the man broke into a Christian bookstore right next to the Chase Bank at 8978 W. Union Hills, where he'd cut a hole in the wall at some earlier date, say Peoria police in a news release (reprinted below). When bank employees arrived, he crawled

  March 25, 2009

• Chandler Police Bust Man FBI Says is Responsible for Robbing Six Banks

  MCSO mug shotJorge Gutierrez likes to spend a lot of time at Desert Schools Federal Union. The locations are convenient, and he likes the easy-to-work-with employees.Most of all, he likes the money.The FBI alleges Gutierrez robbed the credit union in the Ahwatukee/Chandler area five times, including twice at two locations. Just for grins, apparently, he also hit up a Bank of America in the area.Here's the complete list from the G-Men:

  March 27, 2009

• High-Tension Armed Robbery at Phoenix Credit Union Ends With All Suspects Captured

  MCSO mug shotDavid Tongate The pair of robbers entered the credit union suddenly, yelling at employees, waving a gun.Police say the robbery of the Sun West Federal Credit Union yesterday was more like Point Break than the average pass-a-note-and-run kind of bank stick-up.But it was also like America's Dumbest Criminals: The gang took a borrowed minivan to the credit union, and witnesses got a partial license plate that led cops to a home at 2300 West Windrose Avenue. Five suspects were apprehend

  April 8, 2009

• Nation’s Oldest Death Row Inmate Will Never Be Executed

  December 4, 2008

• Afraid of the Dark

  The "Salon Bandit" never used violence, but the troubled talent still terrorized a community

  May 17, 2007

• Dueling Mormons

  Marshal Jeff Flake goes toe-to-toe with Russell Pearce, and a former New Times staffer's popped for armed robbery

  April 5, 2007

• Auto Theft Down in Phoenix and Tucson; Arizona DPS Takes Credit

  Roger Vanderpool, DPS Director The Arizona Department of Public Safety is taking credit for a decrease in auto thefts in Phoenix and Tucson, saying a smorgasbord of enforcement efforts made the difference. Referring to a report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau that show no Arizona city in the Top 10 auto theft hot spots for 2008, DPS director Roger Vanderpool says todaythat, "Much of this is a result of the sustained effort by DPS to attack the problem of auto theft from severa

  April 15, 2009

• Stolen Goods

  Robbers on High Street make a getaway to success

  June 16, 2005

• Robbers on High Street

  Tree City
  (New Line)

  March 17, 2005

• Dude Where's My Car?

  Tales from the nation's auto theft capital

  August 19, 2004

• Merle Haggard

  The real outlaw of country music performs

  February 26, 2004

• The Street

  Tales of tragic stupidity and opportunistic thieves

  September 11, 2003

• The Street

  This new column's got it all, including a crack-crazed ferret

  August 28, 2003

• The Fag Card

  Gay convict claims judge's homophobia put him on Death Row

  March 8, 2001

• Rx: Retrial

  Convicted of a 1984 drugstore heist, a prisoner may receive a long-overdue dose of freedom

  February 22, 2001

• What's a Mother to Do?

  Teenage daughter of anti-gang activist charged in carjack murder

  June 15, 2000

• Targets Beyond The Turf

  Will you be next in the line of gang fire?

  December 16, 1999

• Marked Man

  Felix Medina and his gang compatriots ruthlessly ruled a south central neighborhood. Now the party's over.

  October 14, 1999

• CORPSE AND ROBBERS

  April 13, 1995

• THE HIGH PRICE OF HEROISM

  December 29, 1994

• FIDDLE FADDLE

  April 27, 1994

• SIEGE, SIEGE, SENOR

  REMOTE BORDER AREA IS TERRORIZED BY ROBBIN' HOODS

  May 12, 1993

• RECKLESS ABANDON

  CRIME VICTIMS' NIGHTMARE: ROBBED THREE TIMES BY THE SAME GUY AND ACCUSED OF HIRING HIM TO DO IT.

  February 12, 1992

• Bank Robberies on the Rise in Valley; Feds and Local Authorities Pledge to Work Cases Hard

  The number of bank robberies in the Valley have doubled compared to the first few months of 2008, prompting authorities to pledge to work harder on the cases. From January to May 1 in 2008, robbers held up 44 Valley banks. In the same four months in 2009, they hit 88. There were 179 bank robberies in the Phoenix metro area last year, a notable increase from 2007. But if the current pace continues, authorities say, this year might achieve a total of 271. To help tackle the problem, th

  May 7, 2009

• "Bad Hair" Bandit Busted in Scottsdale; Reserve Deputy Thought "Big Afro Wig" was Strange

    Jim Jeselun, a reserve deputy for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, thought something was odd about a man he saw walking into a Scottsdale bank on Monday. For one thing, he was wearing a "big Afro wig." When the man came out of the First Fidelity Bank at 7401 E. Camelback Road, Jeselun -- a retired sheriff's deputy -- jotted down the Volkswagen Jetta's license plate. He quickly learned the bank had just been robbed. And it wasn't long after Jeselun turned his info over

  May 12, 2009

• Hot Links: Home Invasions, Sarah Palin, and Oprah Winfrey

  Incoming Arizona Board of Regents president Ernest Calderon is proposing a plan that would cut the cost of four-year degrees. The proposal would allow students to attend community college for three years, and then an Arizona university their final year...A Mesa woman reportedly shot two home invaders Wednesday night. The men had broken into her home and forced her and three roommates into one room when the woman grabbed a shotgun and fired on the invaders. One of the men was killed, and the

  June 19, 2009

• Shawna Forde, Alleged Kid Killer, Extremist, Phoenix Tea Party Attendee, and Ghost of Tea Parties Future

  Shawna Forde, MAD-woman, Tea Partier, alleged murderer... A Petri dish of right wing insanity and goofiness. That was my impression of the April 15 Tea Party that took place on the grounds of the Arizona state capitol and drew thousands in a mass fit of anti-Obama rage. Sure, not everyone there was a complete moon-howling loon. (After all, I was there.) But I would say that a good 70 to 80 percent of those present were about a nut short of a PayDay bar. Don't get me wr

  June 22, 2009

• Subway Workers Use Passive Resistance to Thwart Robbery in Mesa

  Three Subway restaurant employees thwarted a robbery yesterday by simply walking away from the wanna-be gangsta trying to hold them up. The unusual incident began just before 11 p.m. last night at the eatery, 450 S. Sossaman, when a dude with black tape on his face piercing came in and ordered a sub and drink. He lifted his shirt up, showing off a gun tucked in his waistband, and demanded money. But the three workers just stepped back. One of them called the police. The robber, who undoubtedl

  June 26, 2009

• Hot Links: Gascon's Temp, Guns in Cars, and Bank Robberies

  Phoenix City Council will vote this week on three projects: a 12-acre entertainment district on Jackson Street, a $300 million expansion of the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, and a Latino cultural center on Adams Street. Wednesday is the council's last meeting before the summer recess...As Mesa Police Chief George Gascon prepares to take a job as Chief of Police in San Francisco, Mesa police Operations Commander Vicki Myers has been chosen to serve as interim chief. Myers joined the department

  June 30, 2009

• Phoenix's Own "Ma Barker" a Villain, Cops Say, But Not as Bad as Real Depression-Era Gangster

    A Phoenix woman who coached boys -- including her teenaged sons -- on the fine art of armed robbery wasn't quite as bad as the real Ma Barker, says a weekend story by the Associated Press. We covered the case for you last month after police announced the arrests of Cynthia Roberson, 51, [pictured], and several of the suspected robbers. At the time, police were saying as many as 40 people were roughed up or robbed in a two-week crime spree. AP's article by Amanda Lee Myers says

  July 6, 2009

• Hot Links: Grants, Temples, and Ear-Biting Cabbies

  ​The federal government has awarded a $54 million grant to Arizona for the expansion and creation of charter schools. The state plans to open up to 92 new campuses...The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints plans to build two temples in the Valley, one in Phoenix and one in Gilbert. The temple in Gilbert will sit upon 21 acres...A Franciscan Priest and a Quaker were arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border near Tucson. The Pima County Sheriff's office says the two refused to stop praying at a

  August 7, 2009

• Prosecutors Pursue Death Penalty for Three Nativists Who Killed Father and 9-Year Old on U.S.-Mexico Border

  Shawna Forde​Looks like our nativist cover-girl Shawna Forde and two others could get the death penalty for their roles in the murder of a man and his 9-year old daughter during an Arivaca home invasion earlier this year. Deputy Pima County attorney Kellie Johnson announced yesterday that she'd filed a notice on Monday to seek the death penalty for Forde, Jason E. Bush and Albert R. Gaxiola. The three are accused of forcing their way into the home of Raul Junior Flores dressed as law enf

  August 14, 2009

• Seventeen-Year-Old Jewel Thief Turns Himself In To Peoria Police

  Avery Lowe is suspected of robbing nearly $1 million worth of jewelery from a Peoria store.​A 17-year-old Phoenix kid turned himself in to police Tuesday after authorities say he was identified as the person responsible for the strong-arm robbery of a jewelery store last week.Avery Lowe robbed the London Gold Jewelry Store at 7311 W. Bell Road for an estimated $1 million in retail, according to police.Lowe must be one of the only people on the planet who wouldn't automatically assume that a je

  September 10, 2009

• Steal Away

  October 1, 2009

• Phoenix Auto Thefts Down 33 Percent

  www.mobilesyrup.com​If you're like many of us and missed the federal government's generous "Cash for Clunkers" deadline, you may have been hoping someone would steal your dumpy old Chrysler so you can collect a little insurance money. In the past, parking your car in certain Phoenix neighborhoods overnight would more than likely make those hopes a reality. Unfortunately, things have changed here in the Valley, and the odds of having your car stolen have gone down substan

  October 6, 2009

• Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas: They're All About the Perp Walk

  October 8, 2009

• Phoenix Police Release Sketch of Man Who Beat and Robbed a 90-Year-Old Woman

  Phoenix Police Department This is a sketch of the man police say beat and robbed a 90-year-old woman in Phoenix over the weekend​Phoenix police released a sketch today of the man they believe beat and robbed a 90-year-old woman in her Phoenix home over the weekend.On October 10, police say a man broke into the woman's South 12th Street home by going through an unlocked kitchen window. The man grabbed the woman around the neck and forced her into a bedroom, where he pushed her onto a bed

  October 14, 2009

• Crime in Mesa Drops Considerably; And Just Last Week Mesa PD Said It Couldn't Enforce DUI Laws

  www.theblueline.com​The Mesa Police Department announced Wednesday that the city has seen the greatest reduction in crime since 1963. According to police, among other declines, there has been a 39 percent drop in auto theft and 31 percent decrease in homicides.

  October 29, 2009