Cop Shop

A suspected sexual predator arriving at what he thought would be a rendezvous with a minor was arrested by police officers waiting to catch him, authorities said.

Police said that Joseph V. Badaracco, 53, was arrested Thursday afternoon in the area of Rural Road and Guadalupe Road in Tempe. Badaracco’s arrest is the first in what Tempe police hope will be many resulting from the new Internet Crimes Against Children Unit (ICAC).

According to Tempe officials, the new unit’s mission will be to deter, prevent, investigate and prosecute predators who seek to exploit or engage minors in sexual activity through the use of computers and the Internet.

Badaracco is accused of attempting to lure a minor for sexual exploitation. According to police, Badaracco had several online chats with what he believed was a minor. He eventually asked for sex acts and planned to meet the supposed juvenile in Tempe.

Police said the unit investigates cases based on tips as well as initiating contact with suspects. But Tempe authorities would not specify if they initiated contact with Badaracco, or how long he was under investigation.

Badaracco was arrested on suspicion of five counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.

Two men robbed and assaulted a cabdriver and stole his vehicle just before midnight Tuesday, authorities said.
Tempe police said the men hit Yusuf Nur of the Blue Sky Taxi Co. in the head numerous times as he drove them westbound on U.S. 60 near northbound Loop 101.
When Nur was able to pull off the road and leave his cab, the men drove away with it. One is described as 5 feet tall with short black hair and wearing blue jeans, the other 6 feet tall with a black T-shirt and blue jeans.

Tempe police Sgt. Dan Masters is organizing a fundraiser for a fellow sergeant’s 3-year-old son, who was recently diagnosed with a rare and dangerous enzyme deficiency disease.

Michael ‘Trey’ Lane, the son of Tempe Sgt. Mike Lane, has a rare genetic disorder called Mucopolysaccharidosis VI or Maroteaux Lamy Syndrome or MPS VI. Masters said only 75 people in the U.S. have the condition, and Trey is the only child in Arizona who suffers from it.

Trey’s life expectancy is 11 to 13 years, Masters said, and there is no cure. Trey is receiving a special therapy into his veins to help slow the progression of the disease, but it is expensive and the family could run out of money to pay for it within a year.

Masters has organized a fundraiser for the child and his family to help pay for medical treatments. It will be held 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, 60 E. Fifth St.

The event is $75 per person and includes a silent auction, cocktail hour, raffle, dinner and entertainment. Proceeds from ticket sales, the silent auction and raffle will go toward Trey’s medical trust fund and toward finding a cure for the disease.

To buy tickets, donate a silent auction or raffle item or for sponsorship information e-mail Dan Masters or Robert Pargmann at  treystreasurechest2008 at yahoo.com.

A la The Smoking Gun, here’s the arrest report for hip hop artist Naledge (pictured left, pronounced “Knowledge”), who was arrested over the weekend at a Tempe nightclub. The 25-year-old Chicago resident, whose given name is Jabari Evans, is a rising figure in the hip hop world and was in the midst of a national tour at the time of his arrest. Police say he had to be physically removed from the Cherry Lounge & Pit in downtown Tempe after refusing to obey police demands that he leave the scene of a fight. He was booked on suspicion of interfering with a police investigation and later released on $500 bail.

Police are searching for a man who pointed a handgun at bank tellers in Tempe Friday and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police said the man walked into Arizona Central Credit Union bank, 3350 S. Price Road, about 3:15 p.m. and demanded all of the money from the tellers’ cash drawers. The robber had the employees place the money into a baby blue pillowcase.

The man then ran out of the credit union and was last seen headed south on Priest Road. Police couldn’t find him.

The robber is described as white, 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, in his 30s, with a heavy build, goatee and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a dark skullcap over his head, black sunglasses and a white T-shirt over a black shirt and tan shorts and sandals.

Police said the man was seen driving southbound on Price Road in a late-model, maroon Chevy Monte Carlo with several stickers on the rear window.

Police ask anyone with information to call (480) 350-8311.

Tempe police said Thursday that a construction worker fell 24 feet from a ladder inside a private parking facility under construction at a light rail structure at 1811 E. Apache Blvd. Calixto Augustin-Flores, 26, sustained scrapes to his face during the fall and was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

 An unusually resilient Tempe man put up a difficult fight with authorities after pepper-spray and a Tazer gun failed to bring him down, police said. The suspect was finally arrested with the help of a K-9 officer. 

Benjamin Olanrewaju, 44, had been troubling passersby for several hours at a bus stop near University and Hardy drives, according to authorities.

Tempe police said when officers attempted to detain Olanrewaju early Tuesday morning he walked into traffic, causing an oncoming car to slam its breaks suddenly to avoid hitting him.

Police said Olanrewaju began to yell that he had a gun, while remaining in the middle of the road. After several minutes of refusing to listen to police orders, he was apprehended, police said.

Olanrewaju was sprayed with pepper-spray, but still refused to obey officer’s orders, police said. Olanrewaju attempted to punch the officer who grabbed him, and the officer used a Tazer gun, which failed to subdue him twice.

According to authorities, the Tazer gun had no effect because Olanrewaju’s jacket was very thick. However, a K-9 Unit responded to the scene and police canine “Tio” helped take Olanrewaju into custody.

Olanrewaju received injuries to his upper right leg from dog bites and he was treated at a local hospital. He was booked into the Tempe City Jail on suspicion of aggravated assault against a police officer and obstructing a thoroughfare, according to authorities.

No other injuries were reported.  No further details were available late Tuesday.

A semi-truck fire has closed the I-10 freeway Saturday evening at Baseline Road in Tempe.

Department of Public Safety officials are unsure if the semi-truck has anything inside and do not know how the fire started.

Officials re-opened the eastbound I-10 at 7 p.m. at Baseline Road but kept the on-ramp closed to traffic while the fire was extinguished.

No other details about the fire are available at this time.

Heather McGalliard of Tempe was indicted Tuesday on charges related to identity theft and fraud. McGalliard, 33, was charged with one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of fraudulent use of a credit card. She is being held on a $10,000 bond.
According to Tempe police, more than 200 credit card account numbers were found in McGalliard’s purse on May 21 at her home when police executed a search warrant. Other parts of the house contained evidence of identity theft and fraud, including counterfeit credit cards in various stages of alteration. During the investigation multiple victims were identified and contacted. They were able to confirm to police that McGalliard did not have permission to use their accounts.