Cop Shop

The state Department of Public Safety busted two different drivers in five hours Thursday trying to move drugs along I-40, a favorite corridor for drug couriers.
At 8 a.m., an officer stopped a van for following too closely on eastbound I-40 near Flagstaff.
Inside the car was five pounds of methamphetamine and officers arrested Adalberto Castro, 26, an illegal immigrant, according to Bart Graves, DPS spokesman.
Graves said the license plates on Castro’s van were specialty plates commemorating fallen police officers.
At 1 p.m., officers stopped a speeder heading east near Winslow.
A police dog, Barry, sniffed out 12 “eight balls” of crack cocaine. An eight ball is one-eighth of an ounce. The drug is sold to individual addicts by the gram.
Barry also found five grams of methamphetamine and a small amount of marijuana.
Arrested were Jackie Tucker, 39, and Cinthya Hamilton, 20, both of San Francisco.

A 38-year-old man arrested on a drunken driving warrant tried to hang himself in Chandler’s jail Thursday.
Sgt. Rick Griner, Chandler police spokesman, said the man was in a cell at 10:37 p.m. at the Chandler Police Department when the detention officer who was booking other suspects heard heavy breathing.
The detention officer cut the noose made from the man’s socks and called medics, Griner said.
There was no indication the man was suicidal before he was placed in the cell, Griner said.
Suspects are placed in the cells until there are enough to fill a van and transport to county jail in downtown Phoenix.

Police are recommending charges be filed against a man Mesa detectives shot and wounded Feb. 21 after he allegedly swerved his car at them.  Joseph Levesque, 44, is being held in the Maricopa County Jail Hospital Ward on suspicion of one count aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon by a prohibited possessor and disorderly conduct involving weapons.  Joseph Levesque’s wife, Sherry Levesque said Thursday that she has hired an attorney to look into the police shooting that she believes was unwarranted.

Police are searching for a man who on Wednesday poured flammable liquid onto a counter at a
Tempe business and tried to ignite it with a cigarette.

The incident began about 4:20 p.m. when a man got into an argument with employees at AutoZone, 35 E. Broadway Road. Police said the man then poured what smelled like gasoline onto the front counter and dropped a lit cigarette into the fluid. Although the substance didn’t ignite, police believe the man was attempting to commit arson.

The man left the store and drove away in a 1992 cream-colored Cadillac with the
Arizona license plate 785 WSG.

He is described as white, 5 feet 10 inches, 185 pounds with brown hair, a brown goatee and wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants.

Police haven’t provided the media with any surveillance video.

Mesa police and fire responded to a four-vehicle collision that left four people hospitalized. The accident occurred around 5:15 p.m. at 48th and Main streets and involved numerous patients who were taken to Scottsdale Memorial Hospital-Osborn, said Chief Mike Dunn, spokesperson for the Mesa fire department. Mesa police officials said there were four patients being transported and the extent of their injuries was unknown Wednesday. Mesa police also added that at least one of the transported patients had complained about chest pains. The immediate cause of the accident was still under investigation.

A woman sprayed a man with Mace Tuesday in Tempe after he grabbed her from behind and struck her in the face while trying to take her car keys.  Police said the assault occurred about 9:30 p.m. in the area of Apache Boulevard and River Drive.

The assailant ran away in an unknown direction and wasn’t able to steal anything from the woman.Police searched the area, but couldn’t find the man. 

He is described as black, 5 feet 8 inches, 180 pounds with black hair and brown eyes wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Police shut down eastbound US 60 near Alma School Road for a short time Wednesday to arrest a man who was walking on the highway.
According to Sgt. Harold Sanders, state Department of Public Safety spokesman, the man refused to leave the freeway, pulled a knife and “demonstrated suicidal/homicidal behavior.
An officer shot him with a stun gun when he refused to drop the knife, according to Sanders.

Mesa police arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of domestic violence Wednesday after a fight with his pregnant girlfriend.
The girlfriend, who police said was kicked in the stomach and her eye was swollen shut, stabbed Daniel Rollins in the head in self-defense.
Police found a blood trail from the house and were able to find Rollins later at an East Mesa house.
The woman told police the fight started when she told Rollins he would have to pay child support for their unborn child.

A Mesa man’s truck was stolen at gunpoint Monday by a man posing as a truck buyer.
According to Mesa police, the victim’s truck was for sale and he allowed a potential buyer to take it for a test drive.
When they were in the area of Mesa Drive and Hampton Avenue, the suspect pulled a handgun and told the victim to get out.
The victim flagged down a passing motorist and they followed the truck to 35th Avenue and I-10 before losing sight of it.