Jonathan Knight — who taught Tae Kwon Do to children in Gilbert — pleaded guilty today to charges related to sending pictures of his penis to a 12-year-old former student of his.Knight pleaded guilty to two counts of furnishing obscene or harmful items to a minor, as well as luring…
A Peoria man is accused of driving off in a police car this morning, after being handcuffed behind his back and placed in the back of the car.Peoria police spokesman Jay Davies tells New Times that today’s events started around 6:30 a.m., as 24-year-old Nicholas Wade Fields allegedly broke into…
Albert Arias pleaded not guilty today to the murder of his father — a killing police discovered after Arias allegedly went to the police station and told several people he’d done it.Arias is actually the second person to allegedly pull this move in just over a month — Kevin Skinner,…
Believe it or not, living with two ex-boyfriends at the same time didn’t work out well for Phoenix woman Daytona Johnson.After punching one ex-boyfriend/baby-daddy, then throwing a can of Febreeze at her other ex-boyfriend/baby-daddy — and later slicing his throat with a meat cleaver — Johnson’s getting a trip to…
The death of 88-year-old Mesa resident Lola Pershall has been ruled a homicide, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.MCSO spokesman Jeff Sprong tells New Times the details of Pershall’s death are not being released at this time.The sheriff’s office called it a “suspicious death investigation” when her body was…
Rachel Alexander, the lawyer who worked with former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas to attack his political enemies, will appeal the suspension of her law license.Alexander received a suspension of six months and a day by the state Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Panel for her role in working on a nonsensical…
Robert Fisher, one of the FBI’s and Scottsdale Police Department’s “most wanted” fugitives, may still be in Arizona, according to information relayed from the FBI.Fisher’s accused of killing his wife and two young kids, then blowing up their Scottsdale home in April 2001.According to various media reports, including the Payson…
The body of an 88-year-old woman was found in her Mesa home, her car was found in Texas, and her 43-year-old grandson has yet to be found.Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office detectives haven’t ruled the case a homicide — yet, at least — but it has been given “suspicious death investigation”…
Australian professional golfer Matthew Giles took a drive into a Gilbert house on Monday, according to police.According to the “extreme DUI” charge Giles was booked into jail on, police are thinking alcohol may have had something to do with it.A little before 10 p.m. Monday, Giles “was traveling at a…
Disgraced former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to file an appeal to his disbarment order. The failed politician lost his law license after a disciplinary panel of the state Supreme Court found he had committed perjury, filed charges he knew were outside of the…
If you’re “desperate and humiliated” because you’re 35 years old and living with your mother, getting caught stealing more than $45,000 worth of merchandise from 25 different Walmart stores probably won’t remedy that.Still, that’s what police are saying Jason Dee Draper did to land him in jail on 28 felony…
The bill to defend a gang of rogue prosecutors in Maricopa County: $1.5 million.At least former County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his bad-girl deputies, Lisa Aubuchon and Rachel Alexander, now all disbarred or suspended, won’t be getting any more of their lawyers’ bills paid for by county taxpayers. Yesterday, the…
James Peters, the Scottsdale police officer who made headlines in February for shooting and killing the sixth person of his 12-year stint with the department, is applying for retirement.According to a meeting agenda for Scottsdale’s police board for the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, Peters has submitted an “accidental disability…
Sometimes God allegedly tells people to run for public office, and sometimes He’ll allegedly tell a Mesa man that his neighbors are “terrorists” trying to murder him with chemical weapons, so it’s probably best to kill them first.For some reason, the cops weren’t buying the terrorist-neighbor story allegedly proposed yesterday…
Disbarred former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas can no longer rely on taxpayers to pick up his legal fees.The Board of Supervisors decided yesterday during executive session not to fund Thomas’ appeal of his disbarment, should he file one, county spokeswoman Cari Gerchick says.His former underling, Rachel Alexander, would also…
Maricopa County leaders retaliated against a county civil attorney for providing Sheriff Joe Arpaio legal help and for voicing her opinion to a newspaper, the woman claims in a lawsuit.Maria Brandon, a veteran deputy county attorney until her termination in June of 2011, says that her civil rights were violated, she…
Former Mayor Phil Gordon Phil Gordon, Paul Charlton, Rick Romley and Terry Goddard sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today asking him to have Sheriff Joe Arpaio charged for abusing his power. Gordon’s a former Phoenix mayor; Charlton’s a former Arizona U.S. Attorney; Romley’s a former Maricopa…
U.S. District Judge Neil Wake moved the start-date of a potential defamation trial against Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio to May 1, after County Supervisors have the chance to approve a settlement. The trial for the lawsuit launched by Thomas Lovejoy, a Chandler police officer who accidentally let his dog die in…
Lisa Aubuchon, the former Maricopa deputy county attorney disbarred last week along with her former boss, Andrew Thomas, has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court. This afternoon, the county Board of Supervisors is in executive session to decide — among other things — whether Thomas and suspended lawyer Rachel Alexander could have any…
Glendale resident Antoin Thurman — a man who once made an educational video describing his prostitute-management skills (more on that later) — was booked into jail Friday night after surviving gunshots from as many as four police officers.Thurman, 26, was allegedly in a domestic-violence situation with a woman on April…
There aren’t many consistencies in the case of missing baby Gabriel Johnson, except for the boy’s pops lengthening his rap sheet, and Gabriel’s mom not showing up to court.Both of those happened again this morning.Logan McQueary, who had moved out of the state, was in a Maricopa County courtroom this…
Four members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club were found not guilty of charges of “rioting” and assisting in a criminal street gang.The four acquitted, Rudolfo “Rudy” Martinez, Gerald Smith, Dale Hormut, and Stephen Helland, were among seven bikers arrested by an Arizona Department of Public Safety task force in…
