Archive for the 'Mesa' Category
February 4th, 2009, 10:38 am by Gary Grado
It turns out an 18-year-old Mesa man has been indicted on two counts of manslaughter in the hit and run deaths of two young brothers after all.
Travis Cuevas was also charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and three counts of aggravated assault for each of the surviving victims in the Jan. 9 crash that killed Frank Smith V, 11, and Nolan Smith, 6.
The grand jury indicted Cuevas Jan. 30.
According to court documents, Cuevas drank heavily before borrowing a truck from a friend at a party at his mother’s apartment.
The truck crashed into a car carrying the Smith brothers at 10 p.m. at the intersection of Sossaman and Elliot roads.
Cuevas and a 17-year-old passenger ran from the scene, but investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office were able to determine Cuevas was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
An investigator wrote in court documents early in the case that there was a likelihood Cuevas would avoid the homicide charges because he was able to elude deputies for five hours, making it impossible to extrapolate his blood alcohol content at the time of the crash.
Posted in: Maricopa County • Mesa | Post a Comment »
January 30th, 2009, 4:05 pm by Gary Grado
An 18-year-old man accused in the hit and run crash that killed young Mesa brothers Jan. 9 might avoid homicide charges, according to court documents.
Travis Cuevas, 18, ran from the crash that killed Frank Smith V, 11, and Nolan Smith, 6, and was able to elude investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for five hours. The boys’ parents and a family friend were seriously injured in the crash.
The time span could make it impossible to extrapolate what his blood alcohol content was at the time of collision, information necessary to make homicide charges stick, a deputy wrote in court documents.
Witnesses said Cuevas had drank shots of vodka and as many as 10 beers before he borrowed a truck to take a friend home.
Cuevas is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal crash, an offense that would carry far less punishment than if he were charged with two counts of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault that would likely be filed if there was an accurate reading of his BAC.
According to court documents, the crash occurred about 10 p.m. at Sossaman and Elliot Roads as a pickup truck carrying Cuevas and a 17-year-old friend sped through a stop sign and barreled into a car with the Smith brothers.
Cuevas and the teenager fled and each said the other had been driving.
Investigators were able to determine Cuevas was at the wheel by using prints left on the truck’s foot pedal and a palm print on the gear shift. He also broke his left arm in the crash, which is an injury consistent with a driver in a crash, and his 17-year-old friend had bruises on his body from a passenger side seat belt.
Posted in: Maricopa County • Mesa | Post a Comment »
January 30th, 2009, 9:59 am by Gary Grado
Cops will be on the lookout on Super Bowl Sunday for drunks behind the wheel.
According to Tempe police spokeswoman Katie McDevitt, a task force made up of East Valley police departments from Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, DPS, Tempe and Scotsdale, will be patrolling from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. during the heightened festivities of the Super Bowl.
“We’re being proactive and doing our part to ensure a safe weekend,” McDevitt said. “We want people to come down to Tempe and enjoy themselves, but we just ask that they do so responsibly and lawfully.”
Posted in: Gilbert • Mesa • Scottsdale • Tempe | Post a Comment »
January 30th, 2009, 9:58 am by Gary Grado
Mesa police are looking for two armed robbers who forced their way into a home in which there were three toddlers running around in the 900 block of west Broadway.
According to a police report, the robbers tied up the adults with shoestrings, but they left the children alone, before making off with a small amount of cash and some properties.
The residents told police the men came to the door and asked for someone who happened to be away and then they rushed the door.
The robbers were searching for guns and money and ransacked the home.
Posted in: Mesa • Uncategorized | Post a Comment »
January 5th, 2009, 9:14 am by Gary Grado
A man police were chasing Monday fell into the pool of an east Mesa home.
According to Mesa police, an officer attempted to stop a car at 2:52 a.m. driven by Matthew Roy Malcom, 21, in the area of Hawes and Medina when he fled and eventually ran a red light at Guadalupe and Hawes.
The vehicle went out of control and crashed into landscaping at the southwest corner of Posada and Hawes . Malcom and a 17-year-old passenger fled, but when Malcom climbed a wall into a backyard, he didn’t see the swimming pool and fell in. Police arrested him as he climbed out of the pool.
Police found the passenger an hour later hiding under a truck in the 8300 block of east Peralta. A police dog bit him and dragged him out.
Malcolm was booked on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle, felony flight and a prison warrant for an alleged parole violation. The passenger was booked on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale, trespassing and curfew.
 Matthew Malcom
Posted in: Mesa | 1 Comment »
January 4th, 2009, 2:14 pm by Mike Branom
Arson is being blamed for a weekend fire that gutted a vacant Mesa home.
The house at 337 E. Ninth Ave., near Mesa Drive and Southern Avenue, suffered $100,000 in damage during Saturday night’s blaze, Deputy Chief Mike Dunn said.
According to investigators, a couch on the back porch was set afire and the flames soon spread to the attic. It took fire crews from Mesa, Gilbert and Apache Junction 15 minutes to extinguish the fire, Dunn said.
There were no injuries and the fire was contained to that property.
Posted in: Mesa | Post a Comment »
December 24th, 2008, 12:34 pm by Mike Branom
Two East Valley men suspected in the shooting death of a Tempe resident have been arrested, police said.
Roy Bigelow, 46, and Darren Cooney, 42, were wanted in connection with a Dec. 15 homicide at an apartment complex in the 1200 block of East 8th Street. In that incident, 28-year-old Frank Daniel Demedio Jr. was shot to death.
Tempe police spokesman Sgt. Steve Carbajal said the investigation revealed Demedio argued with the two over a drug debt before Bigelow shot him. It wasn’t immediately known what was owed to whom.
Cooney was arrested in west-central Mesa on Tuesday afternoon; Mesa police took Bigelow, driving an allegedly stolen car, into custody early Wednesday.
Bigelow and Cooney were booked into jail on counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery and burglary, Carbajal said.
According to police records, was Tempe’s fourth homicide of 2008.
Posted in: Mesa • Tempe | 2 Comments »
December 24th, 2008, 11:20 am by Mike Branom
Mesa police are investigating the armed robbery of a fast-food restaurant on Tuesday night.
Around 8:30 p.m., a suspect pulled a gun on employees of the Carl’s Jr. at 1352 S. Gilbert Road. After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, he fled on foot.
The suspect as described as a black male, about 25 years old, 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds. He was wearing jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt with blue or purple squares in a checkered pattern on the chest.
Posted in: Mesa | Post a Comment »
December 23rd, 2008, 2:47 pm by Mike Branom
A man suspected of repeatedly raping and impregnating a girl in Oklahoma was arrested in Mesa on Tuesday.
Edward Baughman, 56, was taken into custody at a residence in the 8600 block of East Main Street, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The morning arrest took place without incident and he now is awaiting extradition back to Oklahoma.
Baughman was wanted on a warrant for rape, issued in October. His alleged victim was 12 years old, authorities said.
Baughman at first cooperated with law enforcement officials in Oklahoma, but then fled. Last month, the Oklahoma City Metro Fugitive Task Force began hunting for Baughman and soon determined he was residing in the Valley.
 Edward Baughman
Posted in: Mesa | 9 Comments »
December 22nd, 2008, 11:27 am by Mike Branom
A weekend theft – and crash – of a pickup truck ended with the arrest of three men from the Gila River Indian Community, Mesa police said.
Two other suspects escaped following the pursuit early Saturday through southeast Mesa, Queen Creek and south Gilbert.
According to police, around 1:35 p.m. officers were dispatched to the 7600 block of East Obispo Avenue in reference to a report of a stolen vehicle.
Soon after, an officer found the Ford F250 driving toward Sossaman Road. The truck then went south on Sossaman at a high rate of speed while turning the lights on and off.
With patrol cars in pursuit, guided by a police helicopter, the truck drove on until it crashed near Greenfield and Chandler Heights road, causing major damage to the vehicle’s front. The five men in the truck then ran away.
After a short time, three suspects were caught while trying to hide under a truck.
Two men were booked into jail on suspicion of possessing stolen property and trespassing, while the third suspect was booked as a juvenile for the same charges.
Posted in: Gilbert • Mesa • Queen Creek | 8 Comments »
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