February 4th, 2009, 10:38 am by Gary Grado
It turns out an 18-year-old Mesa man has been indicted on two counts of manslaughter in the hit and run deaths of two young brothers after all.
Travis Cuevas was also charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and three counts of aggravated assault for each of the surviving victims in the Jan. 9 crash that killed Frank Smith V, 11, and Nolan Smith, 6.
The grand jury indicted Cuevas Jan. 30.
According to court documents, Cuevas drank heavily before borrowing a truck from a friend at a party at his mother’s apartment.
The truck crashed into a car carrying the Smith brothers at 10 p.m. at the intersection of Sossaman and Elliot roads.
Cuevas and a 17-year-old passenger ran from the scene, but investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office were able to determine Cuevas was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
An investigator wrote in court documents early in the case that there was a likelihood Cuevas would avoid the homicide charges because he was able to elude deputies for five hours, making it impossible to extrapolate his blood alcohol content at the time of the crash.
Posted in: Maricopa County • Mesa | Post a Comment »
February 2nd, 2009, 9:08 am by Gary Grado
A 56-year-old Casa Grande man is booked into Pinal County Jail on suspicon of two counts each of first-degree murder and unlawful disposal of human remains.
Investigators with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ramon Duran on Friday after they were led to the remains of James Emede and Sandra Dickey, both of whom have been missing since 2007.
Their remains were found in two sealed, 55-gallon drums, according to Lt. Tamatha Villar, sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Gary Grado, (480) 898-6573
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January 30th, 2009, 4:05 pm by Gary Grado
An 18-year-old man accused in the hit and run crash that killed young Mesa brothers Jan. 9 might avoid homicide charges, according to court documents.
Travis Cuevas, 18, ran from the crash that killed Frank Smith V, 11, and Nolan Smith, 6, and was able to elude investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for five hours. The boys’ parents and a family friend were seriously injured in the crash.
The time span could make it impossible to extrapolate what his blood alcohol content was at the time of collision, information necessary to make homicide charges stick, a deputy wrote in court documents.
Witnesses said Cuevas had drank shots of vodka and as many as 10 beers before he borrowed a truck to take a friend home.
Cuevas is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal crash, an offense that would carry far less punishment than if he were charged with two counts of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault that would likely be filed if there was an accurate reading of his BAC.
According to court documents, the crash occurred about 10 p.m. at Sossaman and Elliot Roads as a pickup truck carrying Cuevas and a 17-year-old friend sped through a stop sign and barreled into a car with the Smith brothers.
Cuevas and the teenager fled and each said the other had been driving.
Investigators were able to determine Cuevas was at the wheel by using prints left on the truck’s foot pedal and a palm print on the gear shift. He also broke his left arm in the crash, which is an injury consistent with a driver in a crash, and his 17-year-old friend had bruises on his body from a passenger side seat belt.
Posted in: Maricopa County • Mesa | Post a Comment »
January 30th, 2009, 2:19 pm by Gary Grado
A judge sentenced rapper DMX Friday to three months in jail for theft, drug possession and animal cruelty charges.
The 38-year-old rapper whose legal name is Earl Simmons, was ordered to complete an animal offender treatment program.
Simmons was arrested in May at his Cave Creek home on suspicion of seven counts of animal cruelty and four counts of drug possession.
The arrest came eight months after an August raid on his property where Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies found 12 malnourished pit bulls and the remains of three dogs.
Authorities also discovered numerous weapons and drugs.
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January 30th, 2009, 9:59 am by Gary Grado
Cops will be on the lookout on Super Bowl Sunday for drunks behind the wheel.
According to Tempe police spokeswoman Katie McDevitt, a task force made up of East Valley police departments from Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, DPS, Tempe and Scotsdale, will be patrolling from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. during the heightened festivities of the Super Bowl.
“We’re being proactive and doing our part to ensure a safe weekend,” McDevitt said. “We want people to come down to Tempe and enjoy themselves, but we just ask that they do so responsibly and lawfully.”
Posted in: Gilbert • Mesa • Scottsdale • Tempe | Post a Comment »
January 30th, 2009, 9:58 am by Gary Grado
Mesa police are looking for two armed robbers who forced their way into a home in which there were three toddlers running around in the 900 block of west Broadway.
According to a police report, the robbers tied up the adults with shoestrings, but they left the children alone, before making off with a small amount of cash and some properties.
The residents told police the men came to the door and asked for someone who happened to be away and then they rushed the door.
The robbers were searching for guns and money and ransacked the home.
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January 30th, 2009, 9:57 am by Gary Grado
A 45-year-old motorcyclist was cited Thursday after crashing into the side of a Gilbert police car.
According to police, no one was injured in the 5 a.m. crash, but the 2008 Harley Davidson Street Glide motorcycle had to be towed from the scene.
Police said the motorcyclist failed to yield as he went from northbound San Tan Parkway onto the westbound Loop 202.
Sgt. Mark Marino, Gilbert police spokesman, said the motorcycle was going about 5 mph and the police car about 45 mph.
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January 30th, 2009, 9:55 am by Gary Grado
An 18-year-old man has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault in connection with a Jan. 21 road-rage shooting.
According to a Maricopa County Attorney’s Office press release, Anthony Q. Pink, shot a man in the back and fired shots at another man after an altercation in a parking lot at 1110 W. Elliot Road in Tempe.
Pink then left in a car driven by Monique Fitzgerald, 19, who was charged with hindering prosecution.
 Anthony Q. Pink
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January 29th, 2009, 8:56 am by Gary Grado
Tempe police arrested a Phoenix man Wednesday on suspicion of trespassing on the Metro light rail Mill Avenue Bridge.
According to Katie McDevitt, Tempe police spokeswoman, a Metro security guard witnessed Isidro Crispin Escobar, 47, walk past posted warning signs at the end of the bridge.
McDevitt said trespassing on the track is dangerous and a felony.
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January 29th, 2009, 8:47 am by Gary Grado
A man is in the hospital after reporting that he got shot overnight while his car was stranded at Gilbert Road on-ramp to the Loop 202 in the southeast Valley.
Lt. James Warriner, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said an officer responded to a stranded motorist and found the man who had been shot in the leg.
The man said a vehicle pulled up and fired some rounds at him, Warriner.
The shooting occurred between 1:30 and 1:50 a.m. and investigators shut the freeway down for two hours.
The man’s wound does not threaten his life, Warriner said.
Detectives are interviewing the man at the hospital.
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