One sentence in federal Judge Susan R. Bolton’s recent decision in the 2014 shooting death of Manuel Longoria by Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Heath Rankin neatly sums up the circumstances of Longoria’s unnecessary killing. Halfway through her 11-page order granting summary judgment in favor of Rankin, Pinal County, and Rankin’s boss,…
Ex-Minuteman leader and alleged child molester Chris Simcox has dropped his controversial bid to personally cross-examine two alleged child victims during an upcoming trial, according to attorneys involved with the case. Simcox, who is representing himself, told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jose Padilla that he was waiving his attempt…
Tempe police are on alert for possible trouble on Saturday at a theater where Hells Angels’ members are scheduled to screen a movie about the club. The 1983 film “Hells Angels Forever” will be shown at noon at Pollack Tempe Cinemas, theater representatives confirm. Police have taken notice and will…
A Taiwanese national has been indicted in Arizona for buying and possessing more than 17,000 rounds of 9-millimeter ammunition last month at a Phoenix gun show. Jian Kia Chen was stopped on Interstate 10 on February 20 after buying the rounds at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show at…
What’s better than dressing like a leprechaun, using your (terrible) Irish accent, and drinking Guinness, green beer, or Jameson with your friends on St. Patrick’s Day? Not getting busted for drunk driving, that’s what! But jokes aside, Arizona, in the age of Uber and Lyft, there’s no excuse for being…
Free tampons, menstrual pads, and condoms in university restrooms — and free testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Faculty race quotas in place by 2020. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, in new funding for building renovations, access to free computers, paid tutors, reduced-price or free healthy food, and…
In Latino neighborhoods, eloteros are about as popular as the ice cream man. They ride around in bikes selling corn on the cob covered in mayonnaise, cotija cheese, lime, salt, and chili powder. The blast of their bugle bicycle horns are the eloteros’ iconic call to customers. “They’ve definitely become…
New details have emerged in a case against Phoenix resident Alejandrina Angel Flores, 27, who was arrested last week and charged with six counts of child abuse. According to court documents, the Phoenix Police Department received a call from Flores’ sister last Thursday about a domestic violence situation at Flores’…
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery moved forward with second-degree murder charges today against a Mesa police officer for killing a suspect without justification. Philip Mitchell Brailsford, 25, shot and killed Daniel Shaver, 26, of Nashville on January 18 after police were called to a Mesa motel following a report of…
Whether lawyers should be required to join and pay dues to the State Bar of Arizona is a fair subject for debate, certainly. But if anyone’s confused about whether a bill now before the State Senate that guts the State Bar would be a good idea, just look at who…
A longtime computer engineer for Arizona’s court system was arrested on Tuesday after he was caught in a police sting trying to meet a 14-year-old girl at a Gilbert park for sex. Merrill Barton Nelson III, 57, of Gilbert, an 11-year employee of the Arizona Supreme Court, was booked into…
From the spare prose of a Glendale Police Department report emerges the macabre scene that confronted police officers and students at Independence High School, a little before 8 a.m. on the morning of February 12. That’s when police, responding to reports of shots fired, rushed through morning traffic and parents…
Glendale police say they’re submitting felony charges against the teen who provided the gun in the pre-Valentine’s Day murder-suicide of two teen girls at their high school. The families of both of the deceased 15-year-old girls in the February 12 incident at Independence High School don’t wish the boy, who’s…
The former Scottsdale beauty salon owner convicted in 2002 of killing and dismembering her husband is awaiting deportation to France following her release last month from prison. Valerie Pape, 63, became a celebrity murderer after her arrest in 2000 for the gory slaying of her husband, Ira Pomerantz. The case…
A Canadian man who tried to sell high-quality dinosaur fossils smuggled out of China to undercover agents at a Tucson gem show last year is getting booted out of the country and fined $25,000. Jun Yang of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, was caught hawking a rare, scientifically valuable fossil of…
Six people are dead following a horrific scene in Phoenix early this morning in which police drew gunfire as they tried to rescue people inside a burning home. “You know, I heard things this morning and saw things as I’m down here that I haven’t seen in 30 years. I’ve…
There must be 50 ways to leave your lover, goes the old Paul Simon tune, but most of them do not involve murder, mayhem, and the occasional car bomb. Here are 15 that we do not recommend you imitate, performed in various violent ways over the years by Arizonans. …
A girl suspected of killing her friend and then killing herself at Glendale’s Independence High School on Friday borrowed the murder weapon from a classmate, who took it from his home, police said this afternoon. Glendale cops released scant new details about the tragedy today, continuing to refuse to name…
The other day, Tiffany Diba’s 5-month-old dog, Colby, followed her command to “sit” and “stay” in a busy store for the first time. The curly-haired shepherd-labrador-retriever mix perked up his ears as she slowly backed away — 5 feet, 10 feet, 15 feet. He squirmed with the urge to bound…
A mother and her lawyer are hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court shows more common sense than Arizona courts have so far in the case of accused child molester Chris Simcox, who is bound and determined to personally cross-examine his child victims, two girls, ages 8 and 9. Phoenix attorney…
Many questions remain in last week’s tragic murder-suicide at Glendale’s Independence High School that left two 15-year-old girls dead, including who pulled the trigger. The bodies of Dorothy Dutiel and May Kieu were found near an administration building on Friday morning, prompting a security lockdown and early release. Glendale police…
An Ohio man who claims he was stealing to feed his family is accused of holding up 36 Phoenix-area convenience stores and gas stations in the past seven weeks. From December 20 to February 9, federal court records show, Anthony Wayne Hamilton, who’s 25 or 26, threatened victims repeatedly in…
