Few places in the world have meth-heads like Arizona does.
While the number of exploding meth labs isn't as high as it used to be, the meth users still seem to be as high as ever. Now, after much research of the New Times criminal meth-head archives, we bring you 10 of the absolute meth-iest crimes allegedly committed by Arizona meth-heads:
10.) Naked Meth-Head to Cops: I'm Naked in Field to Get "Closer to God"
How do you get closer to God? According to Juan Jose Peralta it involves smoking meth, stripping down in a Mesa field, and exposing himself to kids. Police responded to the report of a naked guy "waving his arms wildly in the air," with his genitals in full view of a man and his 13-year-old son in May 2011. When police showed up and asked him what he was doing, he told the cops he just "wanted to feel closer to God and the Earth."
9.) Meth-y Mom's Baby Overdosed On (You Guessed it) Meth
Most people don't do meth. Most people don't let their 9-month-old kid die from a meth overdose. Most people don't then give birth to another child with a circulatory system full of meth. By those standards, Veronica Marie Linares allegedly doesn't qualify as "most people," according to what Glendale police said in January 2011.
8.) Meth-Head Mom Allegedly Shot Up 5-Year-Old Kid With Meth
Just last week, an admitted meth user's 5-year-old daughter tested positive for meth, after the girl complained about her mother sticking her with needles, police say. Jacqueline Trousdale, a 30-year-old Phoenix resident, was the subject of "several" ongoing Child Protective Services investigations, according to court documents, which included allegations of pimping out her toddlers.
7.) Jesus Told Meth User to Drown Her 3-Year-Old Son in a Puddle
A Mesa woman who was spotted holding her 3-year-old son facedown in puddles in March claimed that Jesus told her to drown the boy, according to authorities. The woman, 30-year-old Victoria Soliz, eventually would tell a doctor that she was taking her medication regularly, which is a problem, because she told the doctor that crystal meth is her medication.
6.) Meth Addict Beats 85-Year-Old Mother to Death
Robert Troutt told police he beat the hell out of someone he thought was impersonating and attacking his mother in January 2010. Turns out, he was high on meth and had attacked his own mom, who died after the beating, in which Troutt caused her brain to bleed, and nearly tore off one of her ears.
5.) Scottsdale Meth-Head Has Naked Picnic in Dollar Store Bathroom
After getting high on meth for four days straight in March 2011, Scottsdale resident Shane Christian Chavis went into a Phoenix dollar store, and locked himself in the bathroom. Eventually, an employee opened the bathroom, and found Chavis naked, chowing down on food he'd just stolen in the store. Chavis put his clothes on and left, but not before spraying at least 10 cans of Silly String "all over" the store, according to police.
4.) Meth User in Motorcycle Massacre
In one of the more high-profile court cases in recent history, Michael Jakscht, a dump-truck driver, was allegedly high on meth when the dump-truck driver ran over eight motorcyclists, killing four of them, in March 2010. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison late last year.
3.) Naked Meth-Head to Cops: "Come and Suck it" (Said While Masturbating Behind Motel)
Police found Theodore Ruiz masturbating in a fenced-in area behind a motel in December 2010, and when they asked him to come out of the area, Ruiz gave his infamous response: "You come back here and suck it." Ruiz repeated his response several times in his brief stand-down in police -- in which he was masturbating the entire time, even after being pepper-sprayed.
2.) Meth Head Tells Dad About Corpse in His Apartment
Erik Grumpelt lived with his girlfriend for more than two months -- after he killed her. In May 2011, Grumpelt kneed his girlfriend in the abdomen several times, until she was unresponsive. He spent the next two months with her corpse, before telling his dad, and trying to commit suicide. Grumpelt was sentenced earlier this year to 14 years in prison.
1.) Meth-Head Put Baby in Freezer
Chance Kracke is the poster-boy for meth-head crime. Kracke but his 7-month-old son in the freezer, because he wanted to make a snack, and said the floor was too dirty for a kid. He still put the baby on the dirty floor anyway, in what's literally one of the most disgusting apartments of all-time, with "hundreds" of cockroaches, rusty razor blades, feces and urine everywhere, broken glass, chewing tobacco spit, and meth paraphernalia. Police discovered his other son, almost 2, had also swallowed a screw.
