Cockfighting Suspect Arrested With 45 Roosters at Phoenix Home

Phoenix police raided the home of a man suspected of raising roosters for cockfighting, finding about 45 birds and other evidence of the banned blood sport. Carlos German Vasquez-Morales, 30, was booked into jail on suspicion of 45 felony counts, then released with a pending court date. The investigation began…

Brain-Damaged Roger Scott May Be Only One Executed in Debra Milke Case

Roger Scott watched the press conference in a windowless 8-by-12 cell in the maximum-security wing of Arizona State Prison-Eyman on a clear, plastic television specially designed to prevent inmates from hiding contraband amid its internal wires. Frail at 67, with hollow cheeks and a perpetually trembling right arm, he sat…

Arizona Woman Fails to Fake Armed Robbery

Crystal Jane McElroy is a 30-year-old Arizona woman who is apparently unqualified for a criminal career, iif her recent antics outside the restaurant where she worked are any indication. Apparently unaware of a police vehicle that coincidentally was parked a few yards away, McElroy called 911 from the parking lot…

I-10 Shootings Suspect Formally Charged by Maricopa County Attorney

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced today that it is formally charging Leslie Allen Merritt jr. with 16 counts of criminal activity in association with a series of shootings  primarily on Interstate 10 in Phoenix during the last few weeks.  His charges include four counts of drive-by shooting, five counts…

“Bolt Force” Vigilantes Score International PR From I-10 Shooting Case

Though online detractors claim they are more of a “Dolt Force,” the vigilante group calling itself  “Bolt Force” is scoring international publicity from the freeway shootings in Phoenix that the Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating.  In fact, when the group’s leader, Tony “Bolt” Rowley, is not getting stopped…

Murdered Transgender Phoenix Woman May Have Been Victim of Hate Crime

After years of struggling with her gender identity, 35-year-old Kandis Capri, a transgender Phoenix woman, was finally getting her life together. She had resumed attending church and was enrolled in classes at South Mountain Community College, intent on studying theology. And for the first time in years, Capri was living…

Interstate 10 Shootings: 11 Cars Shot (and Counting…)

Well, this is getting frightening, huh? The Department of Public Safety just confirmed that 11 vehicles have been hit by what looks what is now being called “the I-10 Shooter.” Beginning on August 29, vehicles on Interstate 10 seem to have become de facto target practice for an unknown individual…

Citizens Blast Phoenix’s Plan to Hire More Cops

Will hiring 425 new Phoenix police officers come at the expense of greater accountability and better civilian-officer relations? Or will more officers mean less violent crime and a safer city?  Amid a national conversation about law enforcement’s use of force policies and frightening statistics about the Phoenix Police Department’s record…

Guru James Ray’s Comeback Attempt Disgusts Sweat Lodge Victim’s Family

Self-help guru and ex-con James Arthur Ray is trying not to let the 2009 deaths of three people at his Arizona sweat lodge extinguish his once-promising motivational-speaking career.  On Friday, Ray is scheduled to return to Phoenix for a “one night only,” question-and-answer session called: “A Night of Solutions.” “James will…

Metro Phoenix Labor Day Weekend DUI Checkpoints

It’s puzzling that in the age of Uber and Lyft, hundreds of Valley residents are expected to get pulled over this Labor Day weekend and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. But it always happens during long holiday weekends, despite the many warnings in the media. Last year, law enforcement…