Cop Shop

A woman reported a possible attempted rape Monday at downtown Mesa department store.
The woman said she was approaching the south doors of Mervyn’s, 1240 E. Main St., at about 7:30 p.m. when three men approached and forced her to walk around the building where one of the them grabbed her on the outside of her clothing.
One of the suspects had a knife, the woman reported.
The men were scared off by a passerby, according to Mesa police.

Four days after a man who simulated a weapon robbed a Mesa pharmacy of prescription pain medicine, another robber struck a different Mesa pharmacy. 

Police said a man entered Community Pharmacy, 777 W. Southern Avenue, suite 501, just after 9 a.m. Tuesday and handed a pharmacist a note demanding Oxycodone while removing a handgun from his waistband.  The pharmacist then tried to open the pharmacy door and the robber jumped the front counter and followed the pharmacist to the back of the pharmacy. 

The assailant demanded the pharmacist place bottles of the pain medication into a bag and then grabbed additional bottles of Percocet and Roxicet off the shelves, police said. The robber then grabbed the bag from the pharmacist, jumped back over the counter and ran out of the store and headed east. 

Police said the robber was last seen getting into the passenger side of a dark-colored SUV that traveled south on Cherry.

The investigation is ongoing.  Police said they are planning to release surveillance footage of the robber when it is ready.

A man who simulated a weapon on Friday robbed a Mesa pharmacy of some containers of prescription pain medication.  Police said that at 10:37 a.m. a man walked into AZ Discount Pharmacy, 1059 N. Mesa Drive, approached a clerk at the counter and demanded all the Oxycontin and Percocet pills. The clerk told the robber that he didn’t have very much and then handed over a few bottles, police said.  The robber ran away south.  No vehicle was seen.  The assailant is described as white, 6 feet 2 inches, 200 pounds and about 35 years old with unknown hair color.   He was last seen wearing a green hooded-sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and blue jeans.

A grand jury has indicted a Phoenix teenager on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse in connection with the death of his infant son.
A friend of Tyrell Marquis McDaniel called police Feb. 12 when the child, Malachai Brewster, 1, was found not breathing.
McDaniel said the child hit his head on a vase, but doctors concluded the baby suffered a shaken impact injury.

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault after Mesa police were called to a knife fight on Sunday.
The victim sustained superficial cuts to his head and hands after he came out of the house where the fight took place, according to a Mesa police summary.
Jacob Hancock came out of the house and police found a knife on him and a witness said Hancock was wielding it during the fight inside the house.

An illegal immigrant suspected in a homicide was the subject of a large manhunt in rural Maricopa County on Sunday.

Orlando Camillo-Bello, 35, is accused of fatally shooting a fellow Mexican about 20 miles south of Buckeye on Saturday night, spokeswoman Deputy Lindsey Smith said.

Since the incident, the sheriff’s office has been searching for Camillo-Bello with helicopters, its SWAT and Search & Rescue teams, and K-9 units. Assisting in the manhunt are the Arizona departments of Public Safety and Corrections, Smith said.

Camillo-Bello was last seen carrying two guns while wearing a tan shirt, blue jeans and sandals. One sandal was found near the intersection Old U.S. 80 and Woods Road, and a tracking dog picked up a strong scent there.

“He has nothing to lose,” Smith said.

A car carrying young children was involved in a t-bone accident at Val Vista Dr. and Elliot Road, according to a Gilbert Fire Department spokeswoman.

A total of four injuries have been reported, one major and three minor.  The identities or ages of the injured people are not known at this time.

The major injury patient was transported to an area hospital.

An 18-wheeler hit a passenger car on the US-60 in an attempt to avoid debris in the road, said a DPS spokesman Saturday.

DPS does not know how many people were involved but injuries were reported in the wreck near the Power Road off-ramp.  The identities of the people involved are not known at this time.

The wreck has been cleared and traffic flow has been restored.

Barbara Rodriguez Mundell, the top judge in Maricopa County, is being honored for something she has been criticized for in the past. Mundell is receiving the 2008  Racial Justice Leader Award from the YMCA of Maricopa County, in part for the special Spanish-language DUI courts she established. You may remember she came under fire a couple years back because of the courts, but the award announcement today seems to back the program. “Judge Mundell, the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as presiding judge, was recognized by the YWCA for her commitment to diversity, equality, and fair and impartial justice,” stated a news release today from the Maricopa County Superior Courts.