Kyle Frost was apparently so upset about a man jogging in the bicycle lane that he decided to take the law into his own hands. Frost was then booked into jail on suspicion of unlawful imprisonment, disorderly conduct, and assault.
]]> At around 7:30 a.m., 47-year-old Frost saw the victim allegedly jogging in the bike lane on Islands Drive West. He was apparently so enraged by the sight that he “grabbed” the main and restrained him.Frost then called the police, claiming his name was “Jack” Frost. He informed them that he had just made a citizen’s arrest on a man for jogging in the bike lane.
When police arrived on the scene, they arrested Frost instead of the jogger. They also found a .40-caliber Glock pistol tucked into Frost’s waistband. Frost may be facing unlawful imprisonment, disorderly conduct, and assault charges.
Under Arizona’s Criminal Code, a private person can make an arrest if he witnesses another person commit a misdemeanor or felony that amounts to “a breach of the peace,” or if a felony has been committed and the person has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested committed it.
According to Sergeant Bill Balafas, spokesman for the Gilbert Police Department, bike lanes are “for the exclusive use of bicycles,” and jogging on one is illegal. Then why wasn’t Frost commended for his arrest rather than arrested himself?
Well, “jogging in the bike lane is far from a breach of public peace,” according to Balafas. It’s also not a felony offense. Therefore, Frost’s citizen’s arrest wasn’t protected under the law.
Gilbert police are currently investigating whether Kyle Frost may be prohibited from owning a gun based on a prior felony conviction.
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Melissa Ann Dalton has been charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor. The reported victims of the crimes were both male and 15 and 16 years old respectively.
]]> According to police, 33-year-old Dalton began a sexual relationship with one of her 16-year-old students less than a year after she started teaching at the school. Dalton and the student allegedly had sexual intercourse on February 22. They then had sex two more times that week, according to a complaint filed in Pima County Justice Court.All instances reportedly took place in Dalton’s car which was parked in the desert near the high school. In another incident, Dalton is accused of engaging in a sex act with a 15-year-old student in her classroom.
Under Arizona’s criminal code, a person commits sexual conduct with a minor by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with any person who is under 18 years of age. Generally, sexual conduct with a minor is a class 6 felony if the minor is at least 15 years old. However, if the perpetrator is the minor’s teacher, clergyman, or priest, it’s a class 2 felony and carries harsher penalties.
If the allegations against Melissa Ann Dalton prove to be true, she’ll likely be convicted of a class 2 felony and sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Dalton is currently on paid administrative leave from her position at Ironwood Ridge High School.
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Stephen Bernard Young pleaded guilty to eight counts of armed robbery for three separate incidents. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Gottsfield sentenced Young to two 21-year terms for the robberies.
]]> According to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, 52-year-old Young committed three armored car robberies in the Phoenix area in 2009. Young allegedly committed one of the robberies at a Phoenix Walmart, another at a Fry’s supermarket in Phoenix, and another at a Glendale Walmart. In addition to the armored car robberies, Young reportedly robbed three Bank of America branches between May 2009 and August 2010.During his last robbery, security cameras captured Young shooting a security guard twice in the leg and groin. FBI investigators were able to track down Young after finding his fingerprints on a car he stole at gunpoint. Authorities found $4,000 of stolen money stashed in Young’s engine and over $86,000 hidden in a storage locker.
Under Arizona’s criminal code, a person commits armed robbery if, in committing a robbery, a person is armed with a deadly weapon or simulated deadly weapon, or uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon or simulated deadly weapon. Armed robbery is a class 2 felony in Arizona.
According to police, Stephen Bernard Young stole around $229,383 in the two years he was committing armed robberies. Now, he’ll likely spend the rest of his life behind bars for his crimes.
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In 2010, 19 of Dr. Richard Lewis’ female patients came forward, accusing the cardiologist of inappropriate sexual touching, and even rape in some cases, during treatment or examinations. Lewis was indicted on 61 counts of sexual assault and related crimes.
]]> In one instance, Lewis allegedly fondled a patient’s breasts while she was sedated. The patient reportedly screamed, when the doctor pinched her breasts. Two nurses witnessed the incident and later reported it to the authorities. According to authorities, 18 other patients had similar stories.While Lewis was facing more serious crimes, he pleaded guilty to 18 counts of aggravated assault, a more minor charge than many of those he was facing. Under the plea agreement, Lewis will lose his medical license, but won’t have to register as a sex offender. He’ll probably only face probation, though minimal jail time is a possibility.
An assault is an intentional attempt or threat to inflict injury upon another, combined with the apparent ability to cause the harm, creating a reasonable apprehension of bodily harm or offensive contact in the other person. Under Arizona’s criminal code, aggravated assault occurs when a person commits an assault in certain aggravating circumstances, including “while the victim is bound or otherwise physically restrained or while the victim’s capacity to resist is substantially impaired,” as was the case with the sedated victim.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery attributed Dr. Richard Lewis’ relatively lenient sentence to the reluctance of jurors to convict physicians of sex crimes in clinical settings. Montgomery contended, however, that the victims were satisfied with the results. ”The two things that were of greatest concern to the victims is, they wanted him to be convicted of a felony and never be able to practice again,” Montgomery said.
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According to the Phoenix Police Department, 44-year-old Jeffrey Huelster was charged with one count of aggravated sexual luring of a minor and two counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation, both of which are classified as Dangerous Crimes Against Children under Arizona's criminal code.
]]> The investigation that culminated in Huelster's arrest began in North Dakota, where officers first discovered the man's alleged Internet activities. On Monday morning, detectives from the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served search warrants for the high school and Huestler's residence. Investigators believe that Huestler conducted some of the alleged Internet activity from the high school.Under Arizona's criminal code, a person commits aggravated luring of a minor for sexual exploitation if he does both of the following:
Aggravated luring of a minor for sexual exploitation is a class 2 felony. If the minor is under 15 years old, it's punishable by 10 to 24 years in prison.
Jeffrey Huelster has been teaching at Cortez High School for 3 years but has been teaching and coaching football for 16 years and 23 years respectively, reports AZfamily.com. If you have any information about Huelster or the alleged crimes, investigators ask you to contact the Phoenix Police Department's Family Investigation Bureau at (602) 534-2121.
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According to police, 27-year-old Jami Toler collected the money from family, friends, and co-workers, telling them it was for cancer treatment. Toler has been charged with felony fraud and theft.
]]> Toler reportedly started a GiveForward webpage in order to collect donations for a double mastectomy. Toler wrote on the site that she has breast cancer, but no health insurance. Toler reportedly raised $8,000 through the site.Toler's ruse fell apart when she declined a doctor's offer to treat her cancer for free. Carmen Klemis, one of Toler's co-workers at Hallmark Hospice, then notified the police. Mesa police arrested Toler at her work after looking into her medical history.
"Her medical records indicated that there was no breast cancer or anything like that, no issues what so ever," Mesa police Sgt. Anthony Landato said.
According to Mesa police, 17 people were victims of the alleged fraud, though Toler likely told many more people that she had cancer.
Under Arizona's criminal code, a person who obtains money, property, or services from another on the basis of a material misrepresentation has committed theft. Theft of property or services with a value of $4,000 to $25,000, as is the case with Toler, is a class 3 felony.
A Maricopa County judge has ordered Jami Toler to wear an ankle monitor while she awaits trial. Police didn't say whether Toler would be required to “return” the implants if convicted.
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Cop’s Wife Faked Cancer, Stole $60K from Charity (FindLaw’s Blotter)
According to police, Jason Todd Ready shot and killed four members of his household, including a 15-month-old girl, before committing suicide. Ready reportedly had ties to neo-Nazi and Minutemen groups.
]]> Initially, it was rumored that the killings were carried out by a Mexican drug cartel as retaliation for Ready’s militia work. Police have stated, however, that there’s no truth to the rumor. Instead, authorities believe that the killings were a murder-suicide carried out by Ready. According to police, there’s no evidence that outside players were involved in the incident.The shooting took place on Wednesday in the Gilbert home that Ready shared with others. All five of the deceased individuals were either living in the home or had lived there until recently, according to neighbors.
Police believe that Ready, for unknown reasons, shot and killed four people before taking his own life. A 15-month-old infant, the infant’s 24-year-old mother, and the infant’s 47-year-old grandmother were among the victims. One resident of the house, who survived the attack, reportedly heard the shooting take place from another room, but didn’t see it occur.
Under Arizona law, it’s technically illegal to commit suicide. However, it’s unlikely that anyone would ever be prosecuted for attempting suicide in the state. Under the state’s criminal code, first-degree murder is generally defined as an intentional, premeditated killing. It’s a class 1 felony, and is punishable by death or life imprisonment.
Police have not yet determined the motive for Jason Todd Reddy’s alleged murder-suicide rampage.
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House Bill 2549 includes both smartphone and cyber communications within its definition of stalking. However, it doesn’t include harassment on social media sites like Facebook.
]]> The bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Ted Vogt, stressed that Arizona’s 40-year-old anti-stalking law is in dire need of an update. “It was put on the books back in the early ’70s and we’ve just never gotten around to updating it, and the fact of the matter is we communicate in a vastly different way in 2012,” Vogt said.An earlier version of the bill came under fire recently from social media users. The older version of the bill would have made it a crime to “annoy” or “offend” someone online. The new bill removes that language over concerns about free speech issues.
The revised bill incorporates new forms of communication by making it illegal to “terrify, intimidate, threaten or harass” a person through various forms of electronic communication like email, texts, or instant messages. However, the bill excludes social media sites like Facebook or Twitter from its definition of electronic communications.
“If you’re leaving your Facebook message board open, you’re basically soliciting people to leave messages there,” Vogt explained. “And especially with Facebook you have the ability to delete those posts and ban a user.”
Stalking is a relatively new crime. It’s generally defined as a pattern of conduct involving harassment and threats to another person that puts that person in fear for his or her safety. Under Arizona’s current law, if the conduct would put a reasonable person in fear for her safety or the safety of her family, it’s a Class 5 felony. If the conduct would cause a reasonable person to fear death or the death of her family, it’s a Class 3 felony.
The new anti-stalking bill will now go to Gov. Jan Brewer to sign or veto. If it’s passed into law, the bill will hopefully have a chilling effect on electronic harassment.
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Police have ruled out the possibility that Isabel woke up in the middle of the night and left her home on her own. They’re now interviewing individuals captured in surveillance footage walking near the girl’s home around the time of her disappearance.
]]> Celis was last seen by her family in her bedroom at 11 p.m. on April 20. At 8 a.m. on April 21, her parents discovered that the girl was missing. Police believe that the perpetrator may have entered Celis’ bedroom by removing a screen and opening a window.Police are now investigating a video that captured a group of five people walking in a parking lot from a night club near Celis’ home on the night of the girl’s disappearance. Police have already talked to three of the five individuals to determine whether they saw anything unusual in the early morning hours.
Under Arizona’s criminal code, kidnapping is defined as “knowingly restraining another person with the intent to” hold the victim for ransom, involuntary servitude, or as a hostage, or to inflict death, physical injury, or a sexual offense on the victim. If the victim is under 15-years-old, as is the case with Celis, kidnapping is a Class 2 felony, and is punishable by 10 to 24 years in prison.
Police in the northern Mexican state of Sonora are currently on the lookout for Isabel Mercedes Celis as well, in case the girl was spirited away to Mexico. If Celis was kidnapped and the perpetrator is caught, he or she will likely be going away for at least a decade.
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John Riebesel was being extradited from Detroit to Yavapai County on drug charges. He reportedly used the trip as an opportunity to attempt an escape from police custody.
]]> During his flight from Detroit to Phoenix, 22-year-old Riebesel allegedly removed an ankle bracelet that officers could use to administer an electric shock should the man try to escape. While in Terminal 3 of the airport, Riebesel made his escape, slipping away from the officers who were accompanying him as they walked toward an elevator.The officers only realized Riebesel’s ankle bracelet was missing when they tried to administer a shock to him. Riebesel made his way to the tarmac area of Terminal 4 where a US Airways employee spotted the man. The employee asked to see his ID, but Riebesel claimed he had forgotten it.
Riebesel then reportedly tried to steal a tug used to move airplanes. That’s when the US Airways employee and several of his co-workers grabbed the man and restrained him until police arrived to take him into custody.
Riebesel is now facing escape charges in addition to his prior drug charges. Under Arizona’s criminal code, a person commits escape in the second-degree if he knowingly escapes or attempts to escape from custody imposed as a result of having been arrested for, charged with, or found guilty of a felony. Escape in the second-degree is a Class 5 felony. The sentence imposed must be served consecutively to any sentence from the original crime for which the person was in custody.
In a newsletter, the Phoenix Police Department commended the US Airways employees for their efforts in halting John Riebesel’s escape. Riebesel has been turned over to Yavapai County officials to face the drug and escape charges.
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Carlos L. Webb was arrested on suspicion of shooting a 30-year-old woman and threatening his ex-girlfriend on Tuesday night at the campus. Webb was a student at the school.
]]> According to police, 33-year-old Webb went to the campus to confront his ex-girlfriend who had recently broken up with him. Webb allegedly pulled up his shirt during a class to show the woman his gun. Webb tried to get the woman to accompany him after class, but she refused, according to police.After leaving for a short time, Webb returned to campus and got into an argument with a guidance counselor. Webb then reportedly forced the woman to follow him to the parking lot at gunpoint. When the counselor attempted to run, Webb allegedly shot her in the abdomen.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital in critical but stable condition. The campus was immediately placed in lockdown mode, with police eventually evacuating around 70 students and faculty.
Under Arizona’s criminal code, aggravated assault is defined as an assault that causes serious physical injury to another, involves the use of a deadly weapon, takes place in a private home, or causes temporary but substantial disfigurement. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is a Class 2 felony and carries a mandatory prison sentence of 7 to 21 years.
Carlos L. Webb peacefully surrendered to a tactical team that surrounded the home where he was hiding Wednesday morning. When police searched the home they found several weapons and a note Webb had written stating that he would not surrender peacefully.
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Police found 29-year-old Scott with a gunshot wound lying in the middle of the street near 36th Avenue and Colter Street. Scott later died of his injuries at a nearby hospital.
]]> According to Phoenix police, Scott was driving in the area with his son at around 11 a.m. After Scott got into an altercation with three men, one of the men allegedly shot Scott in the stomach. Police found Scott on the ground outside the car.Scott’s son, who presumably witnessed the shooting, was still strapped into his car seat inside the car. He was placed with Arizona Child Protective Services until his family could be notified.
Initially, the suspects remained at large. Tuesday morning, however, police arrested Washington in connection with the crime.
Generally, a second-degree murder is a murder that wasn’t premeditated, or planned. Under Arizona’s criminal code, a person commits second-degree murder when, without premeditation, he intentionally causes the death of another person, knowingly acts in a way that will cause death or serious physical injury, or recklessly engages in conduct that creates a grave risk of death. Second-degree murder is a Class 1 felony and is punishable by 10 to 22 years in prison.
Police believe that J’Jamar Washington shot Carl Scott. If Washington is convicted of the second-degree murder charge, it’s likely he’ll be behind bars for at least a decade.
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Mercedes was last seen by her family in her bedroom at 11 p.m. on Friday. At 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, her parents discovered she was missing. Authorities have requested that the girl’s family remain away from their home, while a police investigation of the home is underway.
]]> Police have currently classified the case as a “suspicious disappearance/possible abduction.” On Monday, police stated that they’re currently investigating a “possible entry point” at the home. Investigators reportedly found a broken screen on Celis’ bedroom window, which they believe may be the point at which a suspect entered.Police haven’t identified any suspects in the two days since the investigation began. However, if it’s a case of kidnapping, investigators believe the perpetrator may have been monitoring the girl for some time, as he or she knew the location of Celis’ bedroom.
Under Arizona’s criminal code, kidnapping is defined as “knowingly restraining another person with the intent to” hold the victim for ransom, involuntary servitude, or as a hostage, or to inflict death, physical injury, or a sexual offense on the victim. Kidnapping is a class 2 felony, unless the victim is voluntarily released by the defendant without physical injury in a safe place before an arrest. In that case, it’s a Class 4 felony.
The FBI is currently flying in search dogs from its Virginia headquarters to aid in the search for Isabel Mercedes Celis. Local police have also begun to check on the whereabouts of sex offenders in the area.
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At around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a 21-year-old woman was walking along Virginia Avenue in Phoenix when a black male between 20 and 25 years old attempted to rob her at gunpoint.
]]> After the woman refused to hand over her money and cellphone, a struggle began. “The black male was on top of the female and was pulling her toward the bushes,” said Lt. David Laslavic of the Phoenix Police Department’s Central City Precinct.A man passing by on a bicycle saw the two on the ground, jumped off his bike, and tried to wrestle the assailant off the woman. The suspect then fired his gun at both the woman and the bicyclist, shooting the woman in the leg and the man in the neck.
The wounded bicyclist was able to walk to a nearby fire department, from which he was taken to a local hospital. He is currently in serious condition. The woman was taken to a different hospital. Her injury was not as serious as the bicyclist’s, according to police.
Arizona, like all other states, has no law requiring an individual to render aid to someone who’s in peril. Instead, Arizona’s Good Samaritan law protects those who aid others in emergency situations from legal liability. Those who operate external defibrillators or perform CPR on injured individuals are protected under the law from civil liability for any personal injuries that result from the act.
Phoenix police have not yet apprehended the man who shot the 21-year-old woman and the Good Samaritan bicyclist. If you have any information regarding the suspect or the incident, you can contact the Phoenix Police Violent Crimes Bureau at (606) 262-6141.
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Ben Harwood Rose said that mid-flight an angry male passenger ran down the aisle and tried to push the beverage cart into a flight attendant. Rose stepped in and subdued the man before the attendant could be injured.
]]> “There was a guy that had grabbed the food cart and he was slamming down the passenger way,” Rose told the press. Rose, who was sitting nearby at the front of the plane, decided to take action.Rose confronted the man, telling him to quit. However, the passenger attacked Rose instead. “When he took a swing at me, I ducked and he clocked me in the back of the head,” Rose said. “It didn’t hurt. I was able to swing around and get on the other side of him and with that I was able to help tackle him.”
After bringing the man to the ground, Rose and several other passengers restrained the man until the flight touched down. FBI agents reportedly took the man into custody at the airport.
Assault is defined as an intentional attempt or threat to injure another person, accompanied by the apparent ability to do so, which causes the person on the receiving end to have a reasonable apprehension of bodily harm or contact. If the allegations are true, the unruly passenger both threatened to harm the attendant and had the apparent ability to do so. If the attendant feared that contact or harm was imminent, the man committed assault.
When Ben Harwood Rose boarded his U.S. Airways flight for Houston later in the day, he was greeted as a conquering hero. “They announced there is a hero on the plane and everyone was applauding me and shaking my hand,” said Rose. “It was like really cool.”
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