The unprecedented claims filed against Maricopa County by its own top officials have raised fascinating and difficult questions about potential conflicts of interest. We’re not sure this makes it any less difficult: Steven LaMar, a Cave Creek town councilman, is one of the lawyers hired to represent county interests…
Five cars, a fire hydrant, and three landscaped yards. That’s what an Avondale motorist hit on what police describe as a “path of destruction” Friday afternoon.When he was done wreaking havoc on Avondale roadways, 34-year-old Justin Fernandez parked his mangled car in his own garage — with car parts and…
A $10 million lawsuit filed by Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley last Thursday against the county will likely end up in federal court. Lawsuits alleging abuse of power, defamation, civil rights violations and other injustices by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, former County Attorney Andrew Thomas that were filed by Stapley’s executive assistant,…
The shooting at the Great Alaskan Bush Company strip club on Sunday — one of two strip club shootings over the Christmas weekend — wasn’t the spontaneous work of an angry patron dissatisfied with his lap-dance. The suspect, 28-year-old Gavin Macfarlane, told police it was “part of a plan he…
An alleged Phoenix pervert is behind bars on suspicion of spreading some unwanted Christmas (ahem) cheer — cops say he molested his girlfriend’s 9-year-old daughter as she was lying down next to a Christmas tree. Luis Mejia Ortiz was arrested yesterday after admitting to the girl’s mother — his girlfriend…
Adam Ramsower isn’t the only 30-year-old who’s had to move back in with his folks during this ultra-marathon of a recession. But he’s the only one we’ve heard of who wanted to save up for his own place by gambling with money he’d stolen from a bank robbery. …
One of the weirdest details in news coverage of the weekend beating of State Legislator Frank Pratt, a Republican from Casa Grande, was that his stolen SUV was “state issued.” Several media outlets reported that detail, including the Arizona Republic, which stated: She noticed that his car, a state-issued gold…
A couple of Phoenix strip clubs turned into war zones over the Christmas weekend as homicidal gunmen shot up the joints in two separate attacks. A bouncer and club patron at Great Alaskan Bush Company, 2900 Northwest Grand Avenue, were killed in Sunday night’s attack by an as-of-yet unnamed suspect,…
A pair of Phoenix brothers are feelin’ the heat after the two burned a house owned by one of the men to the ground.Rodger Moffett, a convicted sex offender who’s been off the state’s radar for nearly 15 years, faces arson charges similar to those his brother, Robert Moffett, will…
UPDATE: Call off the dogs — the Phoenix Police Department says Jesus Licon turned up at Valley hospital and is in good physical condition. The Phoenix Police Department is asking the public’s help in tracking down a missing old guy last seen yesterday.Jesus Licon, 87, was last seen yesterday by his…
Christopher Smith, the former chief of staff for the state Senate found shot to death Saturday, had a history of drug use and other “bizarre” and “erratic” behavior , court records show.We hate to say it, but we called this one — which is why on Monday we asked Phoenix…
As we reported earlier, yesterday, the son of a Peoria woman found dead in her car over the weekend was arrested for his mother’s murder. We’ve received some new details about the murder, and the suspect, 32-year-old Dominic Chagolla — who, it turns out, is a big-time mama’s boy.For starters,…
A Chandler woman, currently in prison for a similar but unrelated crime, is accused of doing one of the sleazier things we’ve heard in quite some time: stealing money from a fund set up for a murdered cop.Police announced yesterday that 28-year-old Stephanie Pringle was arrested on suspicion of identity…
Two days after her body was found dead in her SUV in Glendale, the son of Maria Chagolla has been arrested for her murder.Dominic Anthony Chagolla, 32, was arrested yesterday after police say they found evidence that linked him to the murder.Maria Chagolla was reported missing by her family last…
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 Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tim Gaffney tells New Times, but he could possibly lose a leg — which is…
A Mesa man convicted of the 2007 murder of 19-year-old Gilbert woman is eligible for a date with the needle, a jury decided yesterday.It was determined that the crimes committed by Jonathan Burns — who was found guilty last week for the murder of Jackie Hartman — were cruel and…
A body found shot to death over the weekend has been identified as Christopher Smith, an influential Valley politico who once served as the chief of staff for the state Senate.Smith, 51, was found fatally shot in his car parked in the 1000 block of 18th Avenue about 8 p.m…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio finally is cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department in its civil-rights probe, thanks to an “unprecedented” lawsuit filed against the county. This isn’t the abuse-of-power investigation by the feds, which we keep hearing will result in several indictments. (We’ve heard such rumors for months — now we hear…
For a Mesa man, whose undergarment of choice seems to be commando, the dress code for yesterday was apparently pants optional — even when talking to children and police.Michael Polley, 55, was arrested yesterday afternoon after police say he whipped it out in front of three people, including two children,…
A Chandler thug is behind bars after attacking a man with a knife in the parking lot of the El Coyote Bar for no apparent reason.Ernesto Rascon, 24, wasn’t trying to rob the victim. The victim hadn’t slept with his girlfriend. Rascon, it seems, was just being a dick to a guy…
Last week, we told you about 50-year-old Maria Delores Chagolla, who had been reported missing by her family last Wednesday. We’re sad to report that Chagolla was found dead in her SUV last night.Residents in a neighborhood near 83rd and Glendale avenues called the Glendale Police Department last night to…
A woman says her ex-boyfriend has pulled a fast one on the legal system, and now there’s a chance he’ll be released from custody even though he stabbed her father to death. Walter McCarthy, 50, was found guilty but insane today of murdering 83-year-old Vernon Cumming.
