Tim Gaffney

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's Office Aware Ex-Deputy Richard "Hank" Mueller Had "Multiple Red Flag Issues" but Hired Him Anyway

Months after a drunken brawl outside of a Tempe bar, former Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy Richard "Hank" Mueller is expected to face a judge for a non-jury trial at 1:30 on May 6. Mueller's attorney has delayed his clients day reckoning at Tempe Municipal Court several times with motions, but at la ... More >>

Babeu's "Elite" Staff Overcomes Bad Behavior with Loyalty

Paul Babeu Sticks It to Taxpayers and a Volunteer Rescue Team

Pinal County's Top Cop: Three-Way Race Between Paul Babeu, Ty Morgan and Kevin Taylor

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who easily beat out his fellow Republicans in the August primary, is no doubt hoping for a repeat performance against his general Election Day challengers. He's facing Democrat Kevin Taylor, a former sheriff's deputy in Ohio, and Independent Ty Morgan, a former PCS ... More >>

Sheriff Paul Babeu's Spokesman, Elias Johnson, Under Investigation Over Allegations of "Serious Misconduct"

Elias Johnson, a public information officer for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, was placed on paid administrative leave on Tuesday.

Pinal Sheriff's Deputy Louie Puroll UPDATE: Board Said To Uphold His Firing

See also: One-on-One Time With a Pinal County Deputy -- Whose Claim He Was Shot by a Drug Smuggler Is Full of Holes -- Produces Startling Results See also:  Pinalcchio: Renowned Forensics Experts Say a Pinal County Deputy's High-Profile Tale About Getting Shot After Encountering Drug Smuggler ... More >>

Vekol Valley Deaths: PCSO Says at Least One Person From the Other Party of Five Was Found

As the Tempe Police Department got verification earlier this month that the five burned bodies found in an SUV in the Vekol Valley were identified as James and Yafit Butwin and their three children, another group of five people was still apparently missing.Pinal County Sheriff's Office spokesman Tim ... More >>

Paul Babeu's Lieutenants Display Poor Judgement -- Apparently a Disease in His Department -- and Get Nominated, Selected for Prestigious FBI Training Program

Pinal County Lieutenant Tamatha Villar was busted by the Arizona Department of Public Safety -- not once or twice, but three times -- for going at least 94 miles per hour in her county-issued car.   She wasn't responding to emergency traffic. On one of those occasions, her 10-year-old son was ... More >>

Pinal County Attorney Jim Walsh Referring Abuse-of-Power Allegations Against Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu to Public Integrity Task Force

It looks like Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu -- along with allegations that he abused his power -- is headed for the PITs, a state Public Integrity Task Force, that is. Read all about those allegations in New Times' feature story. New Times has learned that Pinal County Attorney Jim Walsh is refe ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Either Forgot He Was Asked to Attend Paul Babeu's "Fast and Furious" Press Conference, Or Somebody's Lying

​At 11 a.m. today, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, and nine other Arizona sheriffs, will hold a press conference at the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza at the State Capitol to discuss the federal government's bungled gun trafficking sting, "Operation Fast and Furious."Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpa ... More >>

Prison Legal News Rejected by Mistake, Pinal County Sheriff's Office Says; "They Need to Settle" Federal Complaint, Says Mag's Editor

​ Magazines and paperbacks sent to the Pinal County Jail were rejected by mistake, a spokesman Sheriff Paul Babeu said today in response to news of a federal lawsuit.As we reported earlier today, the national Prison Legal News launched a federal complaint against Babeu and Pinal County this we ... More >>

Arpaio Interview Transcript Missing from Sheriff Babeu's Report on Munnell Memo

Sheriff Joe Arpaio talked to an investigator for five-and-a-half hours in January. Yet no record of that interview will be released to the public, says the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.​ The $102,000 bill for the job of rooting out high-level corruption at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office ... More >>

Woman Killed by Fall From Moving Van After Drinking With Friends; Husband to Be Charged With Impaired Driving

PCSOYep -- that's a beer can on the console of the van from which Stephanie Holliday fell.​A Pinal County woman is dead after falling from a moving car Wednesday night. Police suspect she was drunk, and her husband will likely be charged with impaired driving.About 9 p.m. Wednesday, 57-year-old To ... More >>

Louie Puroll of Pinal County Not Back In Uniform Despite Alleged Recent Sighting

Louie Puroll, the former Pinal County sheriff's deputy whose tale about getting shot by illegal alien dope smugglers in the desert near Interstate 8 came under fire last year, is not, repeat not, back on the job. A colleague pointed out a comment attached on-line to one of his stories whic ... More >>

Paul Babeu's PIO and Neo-Nazi Harry Hughes Have At It Over BFF Photos

Harry Hughes' FacebookSeems Paul Babeu doesn't like this photograph of him and NSM member Harry Hughes (right, in black)A couple of weeks back, I blogged about how Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's spokesman Tim Gaffney had apparently borrowed some stills of desert barricades taken by National Socia ... More >>

Pinal County Sheriff's Office Suspects Deadly Shooting Near Interstate 8 Related to Mexican Drug Smuggling

​One man is dead and another wounded after they were shot in Pinal County while smuggling marijuana from Mexico, according to the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. PCSO spokesman Tim Gaffney tells New Times that six individuals believed to be in the "rip crew" -- a gang that rips off drug ... More >>

Munnell Memo Report Complete, in Hands of Sheriff Arpaio; Public Release of Document on Hold

  David Hendershott, Arpaio's No. 1 guy, figures large in the Munnell Memo report about to be released.​The long-awaited report on the so-called Munnell Memo investigation is complete, but public release of the findings will have to wait, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office says.   ... More >>

Paul Babeu's New BFF, Neo-Nazi Harry Hughes? Not Exactly

HarryHughesFacebookBabeu and a neo-Nazi:PCSO initially thought this pic had been photoshoppedAnyone recall the flap of about a year ago, when Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu went on a white supremacist radio show in Tennessee called "The Political Cesspool"?PCSO spokesman Tim Gaffney took the spear ... 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 >>

Paul Larkin, Pinal County Assessor, Over Legal Limit in DUI Arrest

L. Paul Larkin, Pinal County Assessor, had a blood-alcohol level of .11 in his DUI arrest last month, officials say.​ Pinal County Assessor Paul Larkin had a .11 blood alcohol level the night he was arrested on suspicion of DUI last month. The elected official was arrested February 7 followi ... More >>

Feds Debunk Another Sheriff Babeu Claim, Say Cartels Not Really Occupying "75-100" Hilltops in Pinal County

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu​ Cartel members aren't really turning Pinal County into something more like Afghanistan, despite what Sheriff Paul Babeu wrote in a letter last week to the mayors of several Arizona border cities.Ironically, the sheriff had written in response to the mayors' urg ... More >>

Paul Babeu's Flack Fans Flames in Battle With Border Mayors

Sheriff Paul Babeu fighting a two-front war. On one front: drug cartels. On the other: three border mayors who want him to tone down the rhetoric.​There's a pissing match underway between the Pinal County Sheriff's Office and three mayors of cities along the U.S./Mexico border -- and it just got p ... More >>

Sheriff Paul Babeu Responds to Border Mayors' Letter -- and He's Not Happy

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu​Since our earlier post about a letter sent by several mayors of cities along the U.S./Mexico border to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, the sheriff's responded with a letter of his own. The letter from the border mayors to Babeu asked that he tone down some of the r ... More >>

Pinal County Sheriff's Office Looking for Man Who Allegedly Sexually Assaulted 13-Year-Old Girl

If you've seen Juan Carlos Cuadros-Ortiz, call the cops.​The Pinal County Sheriff's Office is asking the public's help in tracking down an alleged pervert, who authorities say sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl.PCSO deputies got a call Monday afternoon saying the 13-year-old victim was sexually ... More >>

Pinal County Assessor Lewis Paul Larkin Nabbed for Suspected DUI Following Citizen's Complaint; Had County Car Taken Away in 2009

L. Paul Larkin, Pinal County Assessor​ Lewis Paul Larkin, the elected county assessor from Pinal County, was arrested on suspicion of DUI last night following a citizen's complaint to a county Web site. Here's what the complaint said: The Pinal County Assessor frequents the Kokopelli Mo ... More >>

Munnell Memo Investigation Complete, Report Due in a Week or So, Says Spokesman for Sheriff Paul Babeu

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is finished with his investigation into the Munnell Memo and plans to release a report within the next couple of weeks, says a spokesman​ Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's office has finished an investigation into alleged misconduct by high-r ... More >>

Dead Body Found in Toolbox Buried in Pinal County Desert. Sorry, Jan Brewer, Head's Still Attached

Pinal County Sheriff's Office A hunter in Pinal County found a dead body in the above toolbox over the weekend.​A hunter roaming the desert in Pinal County over the weekend made a grim discovery: he found a half-buried toolbox containing a decomposing body.Much to the chagrin of Governor Ja ... More >>

Louie Puroll Firing Put in Second Place by Chandler Mall Standoff

The best thing that happened to Louie Puroll and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office yesterday was the standoff out at the Chandler Mall, a made-for-TV incident that put the deputy's firing deep into second place, news-wise. ​ Still, by now everyone who follows local news knows Pinal County S ... More >>

Deputy Louie Puroll Fired by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu Over Comments Made to New Times Reporter

Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy Louie Puroll is out of the job.​The Pinal County Sheriff's Office confirmed today what New Times first reported last night: Deputy Louie Puroll has been fired over comments he made to New Times reporter Paul Rubin following Rubin's story on Puroll's account of w ... More >>

Daniel Perez Mistakenly Released From Custody -- the Blame Game and Why it Took Authorities Nearly a Week to Tell the Public a Would-Be Cop-Killer is On the Streets

Daneil Perez should still be in jail -- but he's not, and authorities didn't tell the public until nearly two weeks after his accidental release.​The blame game is on between three Arizona police organizations following the accidental release of Daniel Perez, a would-be cop-killer accused of shoot ... More >>

Tempe Man Crashes Motorcycle Into Pole While Doing 157 MPH. Dude Lived

PCSOThis is what Noe Marcos Colazo's motorcycle looked like after crashing it into a pole at 157 mph.​A Tempe man is in pretty rough shape after wrecking his motorcycle into a traffic signal pole early Sunday morning. There's good chance 19-year-old Noe Marcos Colazo is gonna live, Pinal County Sh ... More >>

Dan Lovelace, Fired Chandler Cop, Investigated for Abusing Jail Inmate in New Gig With Pinal County Sheriff's Office

www.policecrimes.com Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's BFF, Dan Lovelace.​We figured it might be a matter of time before we'd  hear more about fired Chandler police officer Dan Lovelace after he was hired by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu to be one of the PCSO's finest. &nb ... More >>

Suspected Meth Dealer Accidentally Sets Trailer on Fire as SWAT Team Serves Search Warrant. Cause of Blaze: Meth, Of Course

Pinal County Sheriff's OfficeMichael Thornborrow's initial reaction to seeing the SWAT Team surround his house was to run inside and smoke some meth.​When 47-year-old Michael Thornborrow watched from his backyard as the SWAT team from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office surrounded his trailer yester ... More >>

Deputy Louie Puroll Placed on Administrative Leave Following Last Week's New Times Story

Deputy Louie Puroll has been placed on administrative leave following last week's New Times story.​Something about an article in last week's New Times has landed Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy Louie Puroll in some hot water -- he's been placed on administrative leave, and the PCSO confirms to New T ... More >>

Sheriff Paul Babeu Runs Most "Transparent" Cop Shop Around--No Fooling

As readers may know, we have been looking hard into the curious desert shooting case involving Pinal County sheriff's deputy Louie Puroll, the fella in the photo. ​We published our original story, "Pinalcchio" a few months ago about the internationally publicized incident--here it is ... More >>

Suspected Pinal County Church Shooter Found Dead in Desert

Dominic Donatella​The man who police say shot his ex-wife in a church parking lot on Tuesday was found dead in the desert from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.We hate to say it, but we kinda had a feeling this was how this story would end.The Pinal County Sheriff's Office found the body o ... More >>

Pinal County Man Shoots Ex-Wife at Church; Suspect Still Loose

Dominic Donatella​Police in Pinal County are looking for a man they believe shot and killed his ex-wife in the parking lot of a church last night.The Pinal County Sheriff's Office got a call around 7 p.m. yesterday from a man at the Christ the Victor church in Florence saying shots had been fired ... More >>

U.S. Homeland Security Debunks Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's Claim of Cartel "Assassins" Runing Amok

We (and everyone else) got a news release earlier today from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, whose boss, Paul Babeu (in the photo), is the man of the moment in the increasingly ugly debate over what to do with illegal immigrants.   ​The dramatic release claimed that, back in May,  ... More >>

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu Goes on the Defensive in a Desperate Attempt to Save His and Deputy Louie Puroll's Reputations

Rick Romley Spanks Paul Babeu, Hard: MCAO Will Not Pay for Entire Munnell Memo Investigation

County Attorney Rick Romley gives Sheriff Babeu a reality checkIn my Monday blog concerning just who will pay for the cost of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's administrative investigation into the Munnell memo alleging corruption in the command staff of the MCSO, I reported that Babeu's flack ... More >>

Louie Puroll Shooting Case Reopened by Pinal County Sheriff's Office

We heard a few hours ago from Tim Gaffney, the able public information officer for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.   ​He tells us that his agency has decided to reopen the remarkable case involving Deputy Louie Puroll (in photo), which we wrote about in a piece entitled "Pinalcchio," ... More >>

Joe Arpaio, Paul Babeu and the Garrity Rule

Babeu's probe of Hendy is compromised from jump One misconception out there is that the inquiry into MCSO Deputy Chief Frank Munnell's memo by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu could result in criminal charges being filed against those Sheriff Joe loyalists now suspended with pay: Chie ... More >>

Pinal County Man Arrested for Offering 14-Year-Old Girl Cash for Sex; Dude Was Living Half a Mile From Victim's Home in His Car

PCSO Kenneth McDaniel​Living in a van down by the river, as the late Chris Farley eloquently explained, is not the most admirable abode for anyone. Living in your car parked half a mile from the 14-year-old to whom you've been anonymously writing sexually charged notes offeri ... More >>

ADL Smacks Up J.T. Ready, and Paul Babeu Regrets Calling White Supremacist Radio Show

courtesy ADL J.T. Ready (center) showing his true colors I don't normally just throw up press releases on the blog, but as the following one from the Arizona Anti-Defamation League deals with neo-Nazi J.T. Ready's ongoing "illegal alien" patrols in the desert, I think it's worth rep ... More >>

J.D. Hayworth Calls on John McCain to Pull "Sheriffs" TV Ad Because Paul Babeu Appeared on Neo-Nazi Radio Show

​If we were running for political office and our chief opponent was airing a TV ad featuring someone who'd appeared on a neo-Nazi radio show, we'd say "go for it, pal!"The logic being: It will only hurt the oppoient's chances.But Senate hopeful J.D. Hayworth, with the wording of his ... More >>

John McCain Campaign Calls Hayworth Attack Over Paul Babeu Ad "Desperate"

​Since our earlier post about Senate hopeful J.D. Hayworth's advice to Senator John McCain that he pull a campaign ad featuring Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, the McCain campaign got back to us and says it won't be pulling the ad."We know that Congressman Hayworth is desperate, but we never thou ... More >>

Neo-Nazis Nab More Migrants in the Arizona Desert

Just Another Day... Neo-Nazis J.T. Ready and Harry Hughes on a recent "illegal immigrant" patrol in the desert Arizona neo-Nazis J.T. Ready and Harry Hughes have apparently been busy to judge by a recent item on Hughes' blog "Just Another Day... " There, he's posted photos of Ready, himself ... More >>

Jan Brewer, Dean Martin Now (Former) Facebook "Friends" of Neo-Nazi J.T. Ready

FacebookA screenshot of JT Ready's Facebook page as of May 5, 2010Mesa neo-Nazi J.T. Ready's been getting around lately, earning play in the local media by calling Cinco de Mayo "Report an Illegal Day" on behalf of his beloved National Socialist Movement, or showing up to support Sheriff Joe Arpaio' ... More >>

Lame Time, Last Year

Reeking havoc, Phoenix style, in the 12 months the millennium forgot