Cop Shop

Mesa police arrested a 33-year-old woman Wednesday on suspicion of child abuse and extreme drunken driving after she left her 4-year-old daughter home alone, according to court documents.
Checkie Hessel drew attention when she tried to pick up her child from daycare that she had picked up four hours earlier.
Witnesses said Hessel appeared intoxicated and confused.
A neighbor found the child alone at home naked from the waist down and eating cheese and Ovaltine powder from the container, the court document states.
Police said Hessel admitted to to drinking a half pint of vodka and she theorized that she blacked out at home and forgot about picking up her daughter earlier.

A Pinal County man lied to a sheriff’s dispatcher Wednesday after claiming he shot both of his parents following an argument.

Deputies later learned that the man, Steven Concheiro, possibly assaulted his mother and father, but a gun was never used, according to a PCSO report.

Concheiro was found in a vehicle near his Mammoth home and refused to surrender to police at 7:20 p.m. after placing the call. A Taser was used to help detain him, the report shows.

Once he was in police custody, he claimed his name was Steven Edwards. He later confessed to lying and told police his real name, according to the report.

After an interview with Concheiro’s parents, police learned that he had pushed his mother and broke his father’s glasses during the argument but a weapon was never used.

Concheiro was arrested on charges relating to assault, criminal damage and filing a false police report, the report shows. He was later transported to the Pinal County Jail in Florence.

A Gilbert robbery suspect captured by the Department of Public Safety has been linked to similar crimes in Mesa and Apache Junction, police say.

Orion Wilkins, 32, was arrested a day after the Gilbert robbery at a CVS pharmacy at Greenfield and Guadalupe roads on Oct. 27 where he presented a gun and claimed to be carrying a bomb, according to Sgt. Mark Marino of Gilbert PD. After fleeing, Wilkins left the “bomb” at the pharmacy. A bomb squad determined that the package was not hazardous after the store was evacuated, Marino said.

DPS arrested Wilkins in Safford during a traffic stop and used surveillance video to link him to several robberies in three different cities.

He was booked into Graham County Jail on Oct. 28 for drug charges.

A dog bit two young boys and a woman in Gilbert after it escaped from a backyard, authorities say.

The yellow Chow was able to escape after a boy opened the backyard gate in a residential area near the intersection of Elliot and Gilbert roads, according to Sgt. Mark Marino of the Gilbert Police Department.

Two neighborhood boys, aged 13 and 11, tried to catch the dog when it bit them both in the face. The boys were later transferred to the hospital for minor lacerations, Marino said.

A 46-year-old woman was able to pull the dog from the boys but the Chow bit her on the arm and possibly broke her wrist. She was also transported to a local hospital, Marino said.

The owner then took control of the dog which was turned over to Animal Control.

Mesa police were on the scene of two fatal motorcycle collisions Tuesday afternoon.

One accident occurred at 24^th Street and Brown Road about 4:20 p.m. while another accident occurred at Ellsworth Road and University Drive about 6:50 p.m., according to Mesa police.

Both collisions happened when a motorcycle smashed into a truck and fatally injured passengers on the motorcycle.

The driver of the motorcycle, Alan Hamann, 20, was fatally injured in the accident at 24^th Street and Brown Road. According to police, the driver of the truck was turning east onto a frontage road near Brown. Hamann was traveling west at accelerated speed when his motorcycle collided with the side of the truck, Mesa police said. The cause of the accident is not known but police said impairment is not believed to be a factor.

According to police, a woman was killed and a man was seriously injured and flown to the hospital after their motorcycle crashed into a truck at Ellsworth Road and University Drive. Police do not know the cause of the accident and investigators are still on scene.

Authorities said the intersection at Ellsworth Road and University Drive, in Mesa will be closed for approximately two hours and drivers are advised to avoid the area.

An anonymous tipster led police to arrest a man suspected of robbing a Wells Fargo Bank in June 2008, Mesa authorities said.

The armed robbery occurred at a Wells Fargo Bank located near Main Street and Signal Butte Road on June 10. According to police reports, the suspect handed a note to a bank teller saying he was armed and demanding money. After taking the money the suspect fled the scene on a bicycle, police said.

Three days later, an anonymous person told police they suspected Brett A. White, 21, was the armed robber. White initially denied involvement and volunteered fingerprints and DNA to authorities, reports show.

A fingerprint found on the demand note left by the robbery suspect matched White’s right index finger, according to Mesa police.

White was arrested by police Monday morning on suspicion of armed robbery.

Two men got away after the home-invasion robbery of a Mesa apartment Monday.
According to Mesa police, the gun-toting men forced their way into the apartment at 843 S. Longmore and took property from four people inside.
The robbers were described as black men between 25 and 30 years old. One man was 5 feet 11 to 6 feet tall, 220 pounds, green eyes, shaved head and slight beard. He wore a green short sleeved, button up shirt and green suede shoes. The other man was described as 6 feet 1 inch tall, 150 to 170 pounds, shaved head and a well manicured goatee. He wore a silver jersey and black jeans.