If you have any plans on robbing a bank with a note, at least make your demands legible.Perhaps the suspect in a failed bank robbery in Phoenix this morning would have been better served e-mailing his demand note to the bank because the words he scratched onto a piece of…
The man who police discovered had built a secret, underground room in his backyard has been formally indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury and, as improbable as it may seem, new details about the case have once again made it even weirder than we originally thought.William Willis, 45, was…
The Phoenix Coyotes are a mess, plain and simple. Despite a successful year on the ice in 2009-10, things off of it still look bleak. See: the ownership fiasco. The Yotes have been involved in negotiations with Ice Edge Holdings about a long-term lease of Jobing.com arena for some time…
Salvador Reza being hauled off to jail by MCSO deputies last Friday. As far as we can tell, the crime ” being Latino on a Friday afternoon” isn’t on the official books in Maricopa County. Nor is “activist on a Friday afternoon,” or “enemy-of-Joe-Arpaio on a Friday afternoon.”That didn’t stop some…
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez has sent a letter to Sheriff Joe’s legal counsel, threatening to sue the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office if it does not comply with the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into allegations of civil rights violations against the agency.You can read the entire letter, here…
On Sundays this fall, the Arizona Cardinals will go to battle on the gridiron. However, the only fighting Cards’ players have done so far this off-season happened at training camp yesterday, and it was amongst them themselves. Multiple scrums broke out, one of which nearly involved the entire team. After Darnell…
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley today announced the indictment of five men in the murder of Chandler police Officer Carlos Ledesma last week.If you’re unfamiliar with the case, click here.At a press conference this morning, Romley said while he didn’t want to speculate, he “wouldn’t be surprised” if his office…
If you have anything bad to say about Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, you’re wrong. That’s a fact. Fitzgerald just oozes awesomeness in everything he does — on-and-off the field — and now you can, too, via an awesome, dread-lock-covered T-shirt sold to raise money for his charity.Check it out after…
Returning home didn’t make a difference. Neither did a roster filled with new players after a flurry of trades. The Diamondbacks lost again. This time it was 3-1 to the Washington Nationals in front of 500 or so people at Chase Field. (OK. 16,793 actually showed up). The offense only managed one…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio can’t be too thrilled that some of his national ink has been hijacked recently by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. But has media-whore Arpaio’s resorted to a game of media-one-upmanship with his Pinal County counterpart?As you may have heard, the latest bounty on Arpaio’s inflated head…
Update: Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said during a press conference today that he agrees there was no probable cause for Reza’s arrest, and that the charge against Reza from July 30 will be dropped. Please see my colleague James King’s report, here. Yesterday, I obtained the “probable cause statement” in the…
In the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries:…
Phoenix officials are scheduled to appear in Maricopa County Superior Court on September 27 to further explain why they are refusing to release Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s security-detail logs.A judge recently rejected a motion by Phoenix’s city attorney to dismiss the lawsuit, and the case continues to move through the legal…
All it takes is a cell phone text and bit of garbled audio to get Sheriff Joe Arpaio running around like a chicken sans head. “America’s toughest sheriff”? Puh-lease. As was reported by Fox 10 back on July 29, and is now being regurgitated by The Drudge Report and the Associated Press,…
The victim of an apparent road rage incident has died from his injuries, the Phoenix Police Department confirmed this afternoon.The victim has been identified as 27-year-old Jesus Carrasco.Get the details, which we reported this morning, after the jump…
Turns out that someone didn’t pay a hitman to kill us — after all. This morning, we received an e-mail at work titled, “Do or Die, Urgent Reply” from one “Hitman Sapp.” Sapp wrote that he’d been following us for some time, and that he’d been paid by someone we…
A few short months ago, the U.S. Senate seat that’s up for grabs in this year’s election seemed almost certain to go to a Republican. The only question seemed to be which Republican it would be — J.D. Hayworth or John McCain.Things have changed, though, most notably for Hayworth following publicity…
A family of “brazen” beer thieves’ reign of terror over Tempe Circle K convenience stores has come to an end.The alleged thieves, Antonio Coronado Tavena, 34, Elizabeth Tavena, 30, Manuel Tavena, 23, Isabel Nunez, 30, and Jessica Coronado, 24, are all either cousins or siblings, and police say they’re responsible for…
When the final buzzer sounded, it was Gary Smith who stood victorious. Smith took first place in the Phoenix qualifier of Red Bull King of the Rock, which we told you about on Friday. Go here if you missed it. With 64 competitors lacing up their sneakers for a chance…
Arizona politicians are getting a reputation throughout the country. Let’s just say Russell Pearce and Jan Brewer appearing almost nightly on national news programs hasn’t left the rest of the nation in awe of their smarts.That said, Arizona politicos owe Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Basil Marceaux a thank-you card or two because he…
Kudos to Valeria Fernandez and A.J. Alexander for their work on this video You never know when Sheriff Joe is going to blurt out a bit of the truth. Case in point: This video from the crew at 90daystoPhoenix.com, part of a documentary about Arizona currently in post-production. Crusading independent…
The Arizona Cardinals reached an agreement with their first-round draft pick. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, defensive tackle Dan Williams signed a five-year deal earlier this morning. Williams, the 26th overall pick of the 2010 draft, is expected to finalize the deal today and be in camp this afternoon…
