Cop Shop

An 82-year-old Pinal County man was reported missing Saturday, authorities say.

Homer Clifford Foster (pictured) left his Florence home Friday and has not been heard from since, according to Pinal County sheriff’s spokesman Brian Benenhaley.

Foster has been known to suffer from dementia, Benenhaley said. He was last seen wearing a blue short-sleeved T-shirt and denim jeans.

Anyone with any information about Foster is urged to call PCSO authorties at (520) 866-5111.

A woman’s body was discovered in a south Phoenix field Saturday afternoon and investigators believe she may have been murdered.

The body, identified as 39-year-old Helen Coulter, was discovered by a passerby near the intersection of 22nd Street and Broadway Road at 12:50 p.m., according to Phoenix police Det. Cindy Scott.

Police have not released Coulter’s cause of death but have determined that she was a victim of homicide, Scott said.

An unidentified man robbed a credit union inside of a Tempe Wal-Mart early Saturday morning, according to Tempe police.

The suspect, who was wearing a beanie over his eyes, told the teller to give him money from the register, said Tempe police spokesman Charles Cobbs.

“During the robbery, he held one of his hands over his mouth,” Cobbs said.

The teller complied and the suspect was able to escape with an unknown amount of cash from the Elliot and Priest roads Desert Schools credit union location, Cobbs said. Police do not know if the man was armed and have not released any surveillance photos.

A Coolidge man that was shot in the face and torso by a Gilbert homeowner Tuesday has been taken into custody for one felony count of burglary, according to authorities.

Police suspect that Richard Lopez, 24, broke down the front door of the man’s home in a burglary attempt in a neighborhood near Riggs and Higley roads. Upon entering, Lopez was shot twice by the homeowner, according to Gilbert police Sgt. Mark Marino.

Lopez (pictured left) was able to flee to a waiting vehicle driven by his brother Mark Vega, 18, who then drove Lopez to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, he said.

Vega (pictured right), also of Coolidge, was arrested by Gilbert police on one charge of burglary Tuesday, according to Gilbert Lt. Eric Shuhandler. Lopez is currently in custody with the Maricopa County sheriff’s office, he said.

The unidentified homeowner will not face any charges in the incident,  Shuhandler said.

A traffic stop in Maricopa netted the Pinal County sheriff’s office over $200,000 in cash after a drug-sniffing K-9 determined the presence of narcotics in the suspect’s vehicle, according to a PCSO spokeswoman.

No drugs were found during the traffic stop on State Route 347 to Maricopa on Tuesday, but officers said the dog gave a positive alert to the presence of narcotics where the cash was placed in a hidden area, said spokeswoman Vanessa White.

The department arrested the two vehicle occupants, Edgar Felix-Valencia and Ivan Felix, and confiscated the money, White said. The cash will be added to the sheriff’s office RICO funds, she said.

Following interviews with the men, a narcotics task force booked Felix-Valencia, 21, (pictured) for money laundering and released Felix, 28, without charges.

***Correction: An earlier version of this story included the quote: “the bundles of cash were placed in a hidden area where the drugs had been previously stored.” This has been corrected to say: “the dog gave a positive alert to the presence of narcotics where the cash was placed in a hidden area.”***

A Pinal County man escaped custody Sunday after being Tased twice by a sheriff’s deputy and assaulting the officer repeatedly during a traffic stop, according to arrest records.

The suspect, Gilberto Marruquin Gamez, was found in his home a day later and arrested for charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, unlawful flight and possession of drug paraphernalia.

An on-duty Pinal County sheriff’s deputy spotted Gamez riding his bicycle impeding the flow of traffic on Yaqui Way in a neighborhood in Stanfield, according to a PCSO arrest report. After the deputy turned on his siren and attempted to pull Gamez over, the suspect raised his middle finger at the officer and continued on, the report says.

The man ditched his bicycle on the driveway of a home on W. Cooper Drive in Stanfield and attempted to enter the residence, but the door was locked. Gamez entered the home’s backyard and laid on his stomach, the report shows.

As the deputy grabbed Gamez, the suspect fought back by punching the officer in the arms and chest.

The deputy Tased the suspect twice but he again fought back and was able to remove the Taser probes from his own chest, the report said.

Gamez ran into a nearby home and was able to escape arrest after fleeing from a side entry. Officers were able to locate Gamez the next day because he was recognized by the deputy from past encounters, the report shows.  Following his arrest, Gamez was transported to the Florence Adult Detention Center.

The Department of Public Safety has identified the man killed in a traffic accident on the I-10 freeway Thursday, authorities say.

Phoenix resident Thomas G. Harrington, 56, died after a semi-truck and trailer struck his Ford pickup truck while the pair traveled eastbound on the I-10 at 2 a.m. just south of Chandler in Pinal County, according to a DPS release.

Harrington’s vehicle had stopped in the right traffic lane and he was not restrained by a seat belt, the release states. DPS officials did not know why he had stopped in a roadway.

A 26-year-old Glendale man armed with a pick axe smashed a stationary speed camera on Loop 101 at 59th Avenue Wednesday, authorities say.

Travis Munroe Townsend was booked into the 4th Avenue Jail in Phoenix for charges of criminal damage, interference with a traffic control device and criminal trespassing, according to a Department of Public Safety release.

An on-duty DPS officer noticed a loud banging sound while he watched traffic underneath the 59th Avenue overpass at 11:42 p.m. Wednesday night. After searching the area for the source of the banging, the officer witnessed Townsend swing a pick axe at the camera and strike it several times, the release shows.

Townsend did not break the camera but caused several thousands of dollars worth of damage to the camera’s protective shell. The camera was up and running at 11 a.m. Thursday.

If convicted, Townsend could face over three years in prison and over $150,000 in fines, according to the release.

A rear-end collision resulted in the death of a man on Interstate 10 early Thursday morning, according to Department of Public Safety officials.

Just before 2 a.m., a man driving a freightliner truck slammed into the back of a Ford pickup while the two vehicles were traveling eastbound on the I-10 less than 3 miles south of Chandler in Pinal County, according to DPS spokesman officer Robert Bailey.

When deputies arrived, the man in the pickup was found dead on the scene. The man driving the freightliner was not injured.

Officials are attempting to contact the man’s family before releasing his identity, Bailey said. The cause of the crash is still unknown at this time.