Cop Shop

Eddi Trevizo, Tribune

A man who barricaded himself inside a Gilbert home was arrested late Wednesday night, authorities said.

Mesa and Gilbert police arrived at the home to serve Edmund Powers, 39, a warrant but he refused to come, police said. He barricaded himself in the house after allowing two women inside to leave, police said.

The two women, whose names are unknown, left the building willingly, police said.

A tactial police team was called to the site about 9 p.m. and began to negotiate with the suspect. The negotiations were unsuccessful, and authorities used a smoke grenade, police said.

Powers was arrested in connection with robbery and carjacking, according to police.

No injuries were reported, but police said a weapon was found in the home.

Mesa police got an arrest Wednesday when an alert officer noticed a robbery suspect’s description matched a missing juvenile’s.
According to a written Mesa police summary of the incident, a robber walked into the Circle K at 2030 W. Southern Ave. about 10:40 p.m. and demanded money from the clerk while pretending to have a gun.
The robber left when the clerk threatened to call police.
The suspect was walking with two other people when an officer tried to stop him, but he ran.
Officer Ernesto Calderon, who had earlier responded to a missing juvenile call less than two miles from the attempted robbery, heard the robbery call and suspect description on the radio.
Calderon found out the missing juvenile had returned home and the clerk was able to identify him as the robber, according to police.
The suspect also admitted to the heist.

The Mesa 911 dispatch phone system will be turned off at 2 a.m. February 5 for four to six hours while officials upgrade the system.

During the upgrade, calls will be answered in Phoenix and the information will be inputted and transferred to Mesa dispatchers in the Mesa
Public Safety Communications Center, where the calls will then be dispatched as normal to police officers and firefighters.Officials said 911 callers shouldn’t notice a difference during the upgrade, but that residents calling non-emergency lines could hear a busy signal, if the lines are full. Residents should continue calling until their calls are answered.

The upgrade is costing $1.1 million and will be funded by the Arizona State 911 tax that appears on all phone bills.  The fund exists to ensure statewide 911 systems are maintained and upgraded.

Officials said that Mesa needs the upgrade to maintain a reliable and stable system for years to come.

Two fast-food Mexican restaurants were robbed Wednesday about 35 minutes apart, possibly by the same person.
According to a written Mesa police summary of the incident, a robber walked into Rolberto’s, 606 W. Main St. at 9:55 p.m., pointed a black handgun at the cashier and demanded money.
At 10:30, a robber walked into Filiberto’s, 541 E. Southern Ave., with a silver handgun and demanded money.
The suspect is described as a white male, 5 feet, 8 inches, 150 pounds, about 30 years old. He had short blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a yellow sweatshirt. The car described in both robberies was 2000 Honda Civic four-door, either dark blue or black.

Tempe police’s Bomb Squad was called out Wednesday after a resident reported what looked like pipe bombs in an apartment complex dumpster.

Police are seeking the public’s help to catch a woman suspected of robbing a Gilbert bank last month.

A federal judge sentenced a 22-year-old California man Monday to two years in prison for making false statements while acquiring a handgun.
Gustavo Briceno, who pleaded guilty Nov. 6, bought 11 handguns a year earlier from a gun dealer in Phoenix and he provided an address in Tempe that was actually a gas station.
Gun buyers are required to provide their true current address for the licensed gun dealer to keep on file, said Sandy Raynor, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for Arizona.

Inmates convicted of drunken driving will be cleaning roadsides and carrying signs warning against driving drunk near Super Bowl festivities until the game Sunday.
The DUI Chain gang wears shirts bearing its name and the message “Clean(ing) and Sober.
While most of the inmates pick up trash along the roadway, two of them will hold signs that read: “Drive and Drink and You’ll wear Pink,” a reference to the color of jail issued underwear, according to a press release from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
Women inmates will carry signs that read: “Ladies, horizontal stripes will make you look fat! So don’t drink and drive.”

The Gilbert Fire Department is working a house fire on 1500 S. Longspur. The fire occurred at about 6:15 p.m. inside a two-story home. The occupants have been evacuated and there are no reported injuries, fire officials say.

The 39-year-old man charged in a series of rapes in Chandler has also been charged in U.S. District Court in Phoenix on one count of re-entering the U.S. after deportation.
Santana Batiz-Aceves stands accused in Maricopa County Superior Court of 47 counts in connection with six rapes from June 2006 to November.
Dubbed the “Serial Rapist” while police were on their 18-month manhunt, the assailant targeted girls between the ages of 12 and 14.
Chandler police, who arrested him Jan. 11, say DNA evidence links Batiz-Aceves to three of the rapes and method of operation to the rest.
According to the criminal complaint filed in federal court Jan. 18, Batiz-Aceves was deported to Mexico on June 28, 1999, and again on Sept. 3, 2003.
He was sentenced to 16 months in prison in California for a burglary conviction in 1993 and four years for transportation/sale of heroin.