Cop Shop

A billboard has been donated in the effort to catch a serial rapist in Chandler who has been attacking teenaged girls for more than a year. Sgt. Rick Griner, Chandler police spokesman, said the advertisement will be on one of a series of billboards located on the south side of the San Tan Loop 202 east of I-10. The 14 foot by 48 foot billboard, which will contain a composite drawing of the attacker, the Silent Witness phone number and reference to a $25,000 reward, will be seen by eastbound traffic. The man has attacked five girls between the ages of 12 and 14 since June 2006. The most recent sexual assault was June 8 at a mobile-home park on Warner Road. The attacker targets areas east and west of Arizona Avenue.Griner said the message will be up in a few weeks.

Police rescued a 3-year-old Phoenix girl Saturday from a bizarre

The 100 Club of Arizona is giving money to the wife and two young children of police officer George Cortez, who was shot and killed Friday.The organization provides an immediate benefit of $15,000 to the families of officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.Donations can be made to the nonprofit at www.100club.org/ or for more information, call Sharon Knutson-Felix at (602) 485-0100.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is having a farewell ice skate Sunday night in Chandler for Deputy Chief Larry Black, who is retiring in four days.Following an ice hockey game by the "Sheriff’s Stars" team at Chandler Ice Complex, near Ray Road and Interstate 10, Black will be recognized at 8:30 p.m.Former professional hockey player and Sheriff’s deputy Doug Matteson will skate out onto the ice for the first time since he lost his leg in a 2004 crash and will bid farewell to Black.Black is known for starting aggressive programs to catch drunken drivers and for spending years overseeing the Sheriff’s Lake Patrol Unit. He has worked for MCSO since 1976.

By Daryl JamesMaricopa County Sheriff’s Office divers pulled a body from Saguaro Lake early Saturday evening in an apparent drowning.Deputy Charles Scudella said the rescue call came at 2:27 p.m. - the exact same time as a call about a boat explosion at nearby Apache Lake. Scudella said heavy rain hampered rescue efforts at Saguaro Lake."The weather stopped our divers for a short time," he said. "But then they did go in and make the recovery."Scudella described the victim as a 42-year-old white male but did not immediately release the victim’s name pending notification of relatives. He said the body was pulled from the water at 4:49 p.m.Rescue teams also responded to two near-drownings Saturday.One call at Blue Point Recreation Site in the Tonto National Forest involved a 23-year-old female. Another call at Sheep’s Crossing involved two possible victims, including an 8-year-old.The boat explosion at Apache Lake left three people injured."The boat was completely engulfed in flames and is now under water," Scudella said.He said heavy rain and hail kept rescue helicopters grounded, so the victims were ground transported to a hospital in Globe.

On Tuesday, a Maricopa County Superior Court grand jury indicted a former volunteer youth minister at First United Methodist Church of Gilbert on suspicion of molesting a 14-year-old mentally disabled girl at his home.James Ward Chapman III, 39, was arrested on July 14. He is charged with one count of molestation of a child and one count of sexual abuse.Court records show Chapman admitted to touching the privates of the girl, who was a family friend, in December 2006 while they watched television. She was not a member of the church, officials at the church said.It is Tribune policy not to release the names of possible victims of sex crimes.The Rev. Dan Morley, senior pastor at the church where Chapman volunteered and coached teen volleyball, said Chapman was removed from his volunteer position about six months ago after a young person complained he was "being too friendly." The incident was not reported to police, Morley said, because it did not appear criminal.Chapman is currently being held without bond at Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue Jail.

Two assailants robbed a woman at knifepoint early Friday morning at 600 S. Longmore in west Mesa. A male and female attacker stole the victim

The Phoenix Police Drug Enforcement Bureau seized 2500 pounds of marijuana Wednesday evening from the back of a produce truck. The leafy drug was stacked on palettes behind a shipment of actual produce, police said. Investigators saidthe truck came from Nogales.

Police are searching for three men suspected of robbing a married couple at gunpoint on Tuesday night in a Tempe parking lot. The suspects pulled up to the victims in a white four-door vehicle near 2700 W. Baseline Road just after 10 p.m. The suspects then separated the couple and stole a wallet and cell phone, police said. Police said the suspects are Hispanic men. One is described as 5

A truck pulling a travel-trailer on State Route

said.

The accident happened at mile marker 228 just after 4 p.m. Traffic

traveling north and south is completely blocked. Authorities aren