Responding to serious problems and mismanagement first investigated by New Times and subsequently confirmed in a blistering audit by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is poised to again take over the Housing Authority of Maricopa County. The Board is scheduled to…
When 47-year-old Michael Thornborrow watched from his backyard as the SWAT team from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office surrounded his trailer yesterday afternoon, his first thought, apparently, was to run into the trailer, fire up a butane lighter, and smoke a little meth.Bad idea — in the process, he set…
If you plan on killing a blue heron with a golf club, don’t do it in front of “bird lovers.” That’s some advice from a 78-year-old Bullhead City man who was cited last week by the Arizona Game and Fish Department for doing exactly that…
A Phoenix teen convicted of murdering a hooker after she called him a “wetback” has been sentenced to some lengthy prison time after being convicted of murder, kidnapping, and sexual abuse in September.That teen, 16 at the the time of the 2008 murder, is Jose Quintero — and he better…
Eight members of Vagos, a rival motorcycle gang of the Hells Angels, were arrested yesterday in a massive roundup of alleged motorcycle gangsters — dubbed “Operation Sand Castle” — believed to be involved in a July brawl at Rio Lomas Beach in Bullhead City.On July 18, police received reports of…
“My life has been a disaster.”That’s what 37-year-old Michelle Bennett, who was kidnapped, shot, and left for dead in the desert near Apache Junction in January of 1999 told reporters at a press conference at Phoenix Police Headquarters this afternoon.As we reported earlier, the man police believe attacked Bennett was…
The man police say is responsible for the 1999 sexual assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder of a Valley woman is currently in an Arizona state prison serving a life sentence for crimes very similar to the ones with which he’s now accused — and he’s been there since 2003.Clayton Roinuse…
The Phoenix Police Department announced last night that an arrest has been made in a sexual assault/ kidnapping that happened in 1999.The Phoenix P.D. says DNA evidence retrieved at the scene of the alleged crimes match the DNA of Clayton Roinuse, who was arrested yesterday.According to police, on January 6,…
We’ll spare you the obligatory “nine lives” lede and just hit you with it straight up: a cat in Tucson is lucky to be alive after jumping off a 30-foot-tall utility pole.The cat, “Kim,” climbed up the pole and stayed there for two days before taking the plunge as rescuers…
A domestic violence suspect in Gilbert was arrested yesterday — after police had to call the fire department to pry him out of the ceiling where he got stuck while trying to flee police.About 1:30 a.m. yesterday, Gilbert police responded to a domestic violence call in the 500 block of…
Maybe tailing the investigator for the Arizona State Supreme Court was a bad idea. A probable-cause panelist for the state high court, spurred by a report from investigator John Gleason, has ordered disciplinary procedures to begin against former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his former deputy, Lisa Aubuchon. In a 76-page report presented…
A Mesa man’s been charged with murder in the beating death of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son.According to the Mesa Police Department, 23-year-old Jorge Busso was watching the boy Friday afternoon while the mother was at work.By 4 p.m. that same afternoon, the kid was being airlifted from Banner Baywood hospital…
A Mesa couple was arrested yesterday for allegedly pointing a loaded gun at a school bus full of students with special needs.The bus was taking the students home from Palm Lane Elementary School about 2:45 p.m. yesterday when it approached three people — two women and a man.Inexplicably, one of…
A Mesa high school could have been short one laptop after it was discovered a student at the school tried to steal it right out of a classroom — in the middle of the school day.Currently on probation, 19-year-old Ismael Pesqueira was arrested yesterday after school officials at Career High…
The search for missing senior Wendell Workman has been suspended for a good reason: he was found alive and well early this morning.Workman, 71, was reported missing yesterday. The last time he was seen was about 5 a.m., when his son, who was taking care of him, went to work…
The Mesa Police Department is asking for the public’s help in tracking down a 71-year-old man reported missing this morning.Wendell Lee Workman’s son had been taking care of him at his Mesa home in the 500 block of West Del Oro Drive. Today, at 5 a.m., Workman’s son went to…
“There’s candy in the van, little girl…muahahahaha.”Could a pervert’s (ahem) pickup line be any more cliche?That age-old ploy was basically what a guy in Tempe reportedly used to try and lure a 10-year-old girl into his truck this morning…
See the man to the right? That’s 39-year-old David Myhre. Now, imagine walking back to your house from a gas station, and just as you open the door to your garage, that guy’s standing directly behind you.If it happened to us, we’d scream bloody murder and just assume the end…
Be careful on the roads this holiday season, Arizona motorists. Aside from the terror of knowing Governor Jan Brewer might be driving home from a Christmas party, there’s also the increased risk of getting stopped for a DUI (unless of course you’re Jan Brewer, in which case you’re apparently free…
Some people have it all together. Like the guy who robbed a Wells Fargo bank today near Power and Broadway roads in Mesa. He keeps organized with a zip-up black binder. Yep, that’s his little, black revolver in there. Mesa cops say the man pulled a note out of the binder…
Claudia Washburn will serve between six months and two-and-a-half years in prison for providing money to her infamous escapee son, John McCluskey. The sentencing range is part of the plea deal the Payson resident accepted today in court, says the state Attorney General’s office. In August, authorities say, Washburn, 68, sent cash…
When Chandler police served a warrant at the home of 47-year-old Teresa Ramirez, an alleged meth dealer now charged with — among other things — child abuse, the stench coming from the refrigerator in the home was so revolting it “nearly caused involuntary vomiting to all serving the warrant.” That…
