A woman who took a 3-year-old neighbor boy to the store and bought him a Tootsie Roll faces a charge of custodial interference after sparking fears of a kidnapping. Cops scoured the streets near 32nd Street and Indian School for more than a half an hour on Friday evening,…
For those of us who don’t stand accused of being criminals, or literally face felony charges simply for doing our jobs (see: Donahoe, Gary), it’s been something of a hoot to read the filings by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas in his conspiracy-fueled attack on other county officials. Of course…
It’s a small victory, and a technical one.But an order yesterday from Pima County Superior Judge John Leonardo could have a major impact on the resolution of the criminal case against Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox.Leonardo, who was assigned to hear the case against Wilcox by Special Master Ruth…
That was a good use of taxpayer money. Once again refusing to accept the notion that his goons do not have a right under Arizona law to read judges’ email, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court. Once again, he was shot down yesterday, without…
A man believed to have murdered an infant in 2007 has been arrested and extradited back to Arizona.In September, police in Lake Havasu put out a warrant for 33-year-old Glenn Michael Peralta for the October 2007 death of an infant in the Desert Hills area of Lake Havasu.According to police,…
He’s baaack!The Chandler makeup thief known to Chandler cops as “the blue basket bandit” has struck again, after being dormant for nearly six months.For the last 2 1/2 years, an unknown man has been stealing makeup and other cosmetics from Walgreens drug stores in Chandler and neighboring cities.In August, the…
A U.S. District Court Judge has dealt Debra Milke (pictured in a 1991 photo) a big legal setback, ruling that the death-row inmate did validly waive her Miranda rights against self-incrimination before she allegedly confessed to having her son murdered in 1989. Judge Robert C. Broomfield’s 21-page ruling comes two weeks after hearing…
A Chandler mom has been arrested on four charges of child abuse stemming from injuries to her 2-month-old son.Police say 25-year-old Aubree Lewellen abused the infant for weeks resulting in several injuries.On an initial investigation, police noticed the baby had a swollen leg, which turned out to be the result…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas wants to keep up his fight to hire pricey, out-of-town special prosecutors, filing a lawsuit as suggested by a court-appointed state referee. He’ll apparently have to pay for the lawsuit out of his agency’s own budget, since the Board of Supervisors passed its “you play, you pay” rule. But…
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office today announced charges against the Mesa mom who left her 2-year-old son locked in a closet while she went to work.Corrina Davis, 21, faces two counts of felony child abuse after her son was found in the closet by a county constable, who entered her apartment to evict…
It seems that new Valley bandits keep emerging whom the FBI sees fit to dub with some dopey name.The latest group of bandits the federal fuzz needs help tracking down has one of the dopiest names to date: the “Average at Best Bandits.”This is even worse than last week’s “Deja vu Bandit.”The name, apparently, stems…
Even the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs show isn’t likely to touch this one: A Tucson man was busted on Wednesday after state troopers found 700 pounds of marijuana in the septic tank truck he was driving. The Arizona Department of Public Safety stopped the truck on Interstate 19 near Tubac and found…
Two Valley residents, as well as a Florida man, have been named in a 28-count federal indictment for smuggling hundreds of thousands of pounds of seafood into the country illegally.Considering the possible penalty of 20 years in prison, they may have been better off smuggling cocaine.The indictment, which was handed down…
The Mesa mom who police say locked her 2-year-old son in a closet when she went to work also happens to advertise herself as an escort.When she was arrested on Monday, we were under the impression that she was 21-year-old Corrina Davis. However, on the backpage.com Web site, Davis goes by…
Andrew Thomas was said to be appreciative of the Arizona Supreme Court’s appointment of retired Chief Justice Ruth McGregor as a referee in the ongoing county feud. Thomas’ reaction didn’t make much sense then, and it’s making even less now that McGregor isn’t ruling his way. As you may recall, Thomas filed a motion with Special Master McGregor…
Two teenage girls made history at a border checkpoint in Yuma, but it’s hardly a record that will make their families swell with pride. The two unnamed girls, ages 18 and 19, were arrested by border patrol agents for attempting to smuggle 47 pounds of meth into Arizona — the…
A Glendale man who shot and wounded a Glendale police officer was sentenced to 24 years in prison by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge. Prosecutors charged 29-year-old Jeremy Kent with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and misconduct involving weapons following the 2006 shooting of Glendale police Officer Jeremy Esh. Kent, according to…
A new grand jury convened by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has indicted Mary Rose Wilcox on 42 criminal counts after problems were alleged in the first go-round. Thomas’ office released newsof the grand jury’s finding this afternoon. Not only did a second grand jury manage to reach the same conclusion…
An alleged crime ring tied to local nightclubs, high-end car dealerships and the hip-hop community used millions in cash from a Mexico media family — but authorities don’t know why. With officials including Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon in attendance, police outlined the highlights of a suspected white-collar crime spree that resulted in the arrests of five…
Elizabeth Johnson, the mother of the missing eight-month old baby, Gabriel Johnson, appeared before a Maricopa County Superior Court judge this morning, via-video feed from the Maricopa County Jail and pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the child’s disappearance. Johnson pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, child abuse and…
The roundup of alleged crime ring members we told you about on Thursday also snared Mario de la Fuente Manríquez, a Mexican media mogul who owns cable TV companies, a Nogales, Sonora TV station and newspaper. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, and police officials are scheduled…
With the capture of the “First-Aid Bandit,” later dubbed the “Band-Aid Bandit,” last week, there appeared to be an opening for a poorly named bandit to start robbing Phoenix banks. Not to worry — the “Déjà vu Bandit” has filled that void. Agents in the FBI’s Phoenix office are looking…
