Author Archive
November 21st, 2007, 2:44 pm by Jill Redhage
A Mesa man is in jail after driving his daughter’s car into a community lake Tuesday night near McQueen and Warner roads in Gilbert, Gilbert police said.
Christobal Marin, 29, is suspected of aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of a non-injury collision following the incident at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday. He also had warrants out for his arrest for violating parole and writing a bad check, police said.
Marin was driving his daughter’s 1993 Toyota passenger car east on Highland Drive east of McQueen Road when he ran a stop sign before driving down a boat dock and into the lake.
Police said Marin didn’t appear to have used his brakes. The car was about 40 feet into the lake and completely submerged, police said. Marin fled the scene, but police said they located him soon after.
Marin was the only occupant of the vehicle.
Posted in: Gilbert • Mesa | 1 Comment »
November 17th, 2007, 9:32 pm by Jill Redhage
Former state and federal prosecutor Joseph C. Welty formally assumed his place on the bench in Maricopa County Friday.
Prior to his appointment, the new judge worked for almost 20 years as a prosecutor at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix.
He worked for many years prosecuting violent crimes and drug cases before he was assigned to the investigation of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which led him to specialize in terrorism investigations.
He went on to head Arizona’s investigation of the events of September 11, 2001.
At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and later as head of the National Security Section.
Welty was born and raised in Phoenix. He received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Calif., and his law degree from Georgetown University.
Welty’s first assignment is in the Family Court in downtown Phoenix.
Posted in: Maricopa County | Post a Comment »
November 17th, 2007, 4:40 pm by Jill Redhage
A garage fire in Mesa chased a family of four from their home Saturday afternoon and destroyed their automobile.
Deputy fire chief Mike Dunn said a neighbor alerted the family to smoke consuming their garage at about 3:20 p.m., and the parents and two young children escaped safely from their home at 5658 East Grove Circle. But the fire devoured their garage and a vehicle, resulting in about $20,000 worth of damage, Dunn said.
Dunn said an electrical malfunction in the charger for a child’s mini-bike caused the sparks that led to the fire. Firefighters were able to contain and extinguish the flames in 15 minutes, Dunn said.
In a separate incident, Mesa firefighters extinguished a fire at 2055 E. Hampton Avenue Saturday afternoon caused when a man hung wet T-shirts to dry over lamps. Dunn said the fire was confined to the T-shirts and lamps.
Posted in: Mesa | Post a Comment »
November 17th, 2007, 4:17 pm by Jill Redhage
An argument between two unidentified men in Mesa Saturday morning left one man in the hospital with gunshot wounds, said Mesa police Det. Steve Berry.
The sound of shots pierced the silence at 7:29 a.m. on the 1400 block of East Knoll Circle in north Mesa. Berry said friends of the man who was shot rushed him to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn, where doctors were treating his serious injuries.
Further details and the men’s identities weren’t available Saturday afternoon.
Posted in: Mesa | Post a Comment »
November 13th, 2007, 10:56 pm by Jill Redhage
Authorities said the two-vehicle collision that clogged U.S. Highway 60 near Miami Tuesday afternoon was likely a head-on collision.
Both drivers sustained serious trauma, and both vehicles were severely damaged, said Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Harold Sanders. He said the cause of the collision wasn’t yet known, but that the westbound vehicle appeared to have crossed into the eastbound lane.
The victims’ identities weren’t released.
Both vehicles caught fire upon impact, Sanders said, but emergency personnel were able to remove the drivers before flames engulfed their vehicles.
The westbound highway was closed at Miami and the eastbound highway was closed at Superior for about an hour and a half.
Sanders said officers hadn’t decided whether to press charges against the westbound driver.
Posted in: Apache Junction • Pinal County | Post a Comment »
November 13th, 2007, 10:40 pm by Jill Redhage
Prosecutors announced Tuesday that a jury has convicted Phillip Mitchell, 42, of Mesa, of molesting an 11-year-old girl beginning in 1999.
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Mitchell molested the girl at least seven times between 1999 and 2001. She came forward several years later, and Mitchell was arrested in Oct. 2005, Thomas said.
The jury found Mitchell guilty of five counts of child molestation and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor. He will face no fewer than 80 years in prison after his sentencing on Dec. 11.
Posted in: Mesa | Post a Comment »
November 13th, 2007, 8:33 pm by Jill Redhage
A 12-year-old Phoenix girl was beaten with an electrical cord, and her parents left her body on the floor of her bedroom for days before they called 911, according to court documents released Tuesday.
Police arrested the girl’s father, 34-year-old Jeffrey Duchane Jr., and her stepmother, 25-year-old Reiko Troupe, after officers were called to the house on Saturday.
Troupe was jailed on suspicion of first-degree murder and child abuse. Duchane was jailed on suspicion of child abuse.
Both were scheduled to appear Monday in Maricopa County Superior Court.
The Associated Press had asked the sheriff’s office if it could interview Duchane and Troupe, but those requests went unanswered Tuesday.
The Associated Press wrote this report.
Posted in: Phoenix | Post a Comment »
November 13th, 2007, 8:30 pm by Jill Redhage
Tempe police are looking for a gunman who shot a man in the leg after an argument Sunday.
The assailant, described as Hispanic, 40 years old, 5 feet, 8 inches tall with salt and pepper hair, drove from the scene at 1930 E. Hayden Lane in a red pickup truck, said police spokesman officer Brandon Banks.
Banks said the gunman punched the victim in the face and then pulled a .45-caliber handgun from his truck and shot him.
Tribune reporter Gary Grado wrote this report.
Posted in: Tempe | Post a Comment »
November 13th, 2007, 8:27 pm by Jill Redhage
Chandler police detective Chris Perez made an appeal by video to the Chandler rapist to contact him directly and surrender.
Perez hoped the rapist would see his plea on Valley television news broadcasts Tuesday evening. The interview was conducted by ABC Channel 15 but shared with other news stations.
The most recent incident linked to the rapist occurred Nov. 8, when a man attacked a 15-year-old girl at her home in the 1600 block of West Temple Street just after 6 a.m.
The series of attacks started June 4, 2006. Police have identified six victims.
Based on witness reports, police said the rapist may work in the construction industry. He is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 8 inches tall, and wears a white T-shirt and blue jeans.
The attacker typically strikes early in the morning against teenage girls living in single-parent homes, although an attack in June occurred at night while the victim’s grandparents sat on the front porch of their mobile home.
Police believe the man watches his victims and their homes before the attacks.
Posted in: Chandler | 1 Comment »
November 12th, 2007, 4:53 pm by Jill Redhage
A 9-year-old Queen Creek boy was in the hospital early Monday after he dropped a gun and it fired a shot through his wrist.
Pinal County Sheriff’s County responded to a 911 call at his residence on the 800 block East Mountain View Road at 12:22 a.m. Monday.
He was sent to Maricopa County Medical Center. His updated condition was not known.
Posted in: Queen Creek | Post a Comment »
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