Phoenix News Blog

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will leave the Wells Fargo building in downtown Phoenix if doing so will save taxpayers' money, according to a statement released today.

     The Board of Supervisors, though, which Arpaio has accused of engaging in a criminal conspiracy against him, may have the final word on whether to evict the Sheriff's Office, officials said. Arpaio has used the 18th and 19th floors of the building at 100 West Washington Street as his agency's headquarters since 1998.

The county leaders were responding to a letter leaked to New Times yesterday (click here for a copy) from a Wells Fargo vice president, Leo Bauman, which states that the bank is requesting the "return" of the two floors occupied by Arpaio's headquarters since 1998. Referring to previous conversations with Dennis Lindsey, county real-estate manager, Bauman states the bank "is in need of" the building's 18th and 19th floors and will waive the contracted penalty for leaving early.

Wells Fargo declined comment yesterday on the issue. It's unclear whether the bank is succumbing to the pressure of anti-Arpaio demonstrators who have held up signs and encouraged motorists to honk their horns at the corner of 1st Avenue and Washington site for more than a year -- but it certainly could be.

In his statement today, Arpaio said:

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Police in San Antonio, Texas, today began searching a landfill, where they think the remains of missing Gabriel Johnson, the Tempe boy missing since December, may be.

A couple of weeks ago, police cordoned off a 45-foot section of the landfill. They believe garbage will be found in the section that came from the hotel where Gabriel and his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, were last seen together.

Police, however, waited until today to actually start searching the dump..

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Weezy

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Legally challenged rapper Lil Wayne was expected to turn himself in to authorities tomorrow to begin a year-long jail sentence for gun charges in New York. Weezy's sentencing has been delayed, however, so the rapper can undergo dental surgery.

Before learning that his sentencing would be delayed, Weezy had time for one last assault on the English language via-a live video feed.

He took to the Upstream page of Lil' Twist, an artist on his Young Money label, to say goodbye to his "real" fans in a nearly hour-long, "gangsta" rant.

Check it out here.

"For all the people that didn't know, this is the last time you gonna be seeing me live for a long muthafuckin' time. So watch: This is history," Lil' (born Dwayne Carter) says in the video.

History, huh? He's a rapper going to jail -- this isn't exactly a moon landing.

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J.D. Hayworth (left) with his buddies, Russell Pearce (center), and Joe Arpaio

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio sent a letter to his supporters recently, urging them to give the "liberal" John McCain the boot and vote for McCain's probable primary opponent, extreme-right-wing radio host and former Congressman J.D. Hayworth.

It seems "the Maverick" isn't conservative enough for America's self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff," and he's throwin' his support behind the uber-conservative Hayworth. It probably doesn't hurt Hayworth that he and Arpaio share the same political flack, Jason Rose.

"Senator McCain has served this country admirably, but it's time to replace his moderate or even liberal positions on taxes, the border, social causes, and big bank bailouts with a consistent conservative like J.D.," Arpaio writes in the letter published by the National Journal. "I just wish Senator McCain had run as hard against Barack Obama as he is against a conservative like J.D. That could have prevented the harmful, liberal agenda we are all now suffering through."

Um, hope you were sitting down when Joe announced his disdain for our black president.

 

Adrian Cruz: Still on the run.

​Today, numerous local news outlets reported that convicted child rapist Adrian Cruz, who escaped from the less-than-competent MSCO at the Maricopa County Courthouse last year, had been arrested in Mexico. But before officials could even hold a press conference celebrating this supposed arrest, it turned out that officials in Mexico had arrested the wrong guy. They didn't have Cruz in custody, after all.

Whoops! 

​The Waste Management Open is just around the corner, and promoters of the trashy tourney are offering free tickets to members of the military, firemen, and cops.

The tournament's festivities begin on February 22, and Waste Management and the Thunderbirds charities are inviting the folks in uniform (and one guest each) to attend the events free of charge.

Here's the deal: "Eligible personnel (sworn officers) must present their official department ID or badge at any ticket booth at the main tournament entrance. Business cards and pay stubs will not be accepted as forms of ID. Tickets are limited to two per day, per each official department ID. Standard tournament spectator policies will be in enforced, including no firearms allowed."

No guns at a golf tournament? Dang -- this is Arizona, right? How are folks at the "party hole" supposed to open their beers?

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An hour of work this morning produced only scant information about the talks to move Sheriff Joe Arpaio's headquarters out of the Wells Fargo building in downtown Phoenix.

Cari Gerchick, spokeswoman for Maricopa County, tells us that Wells Fargo is not exactly evicting the Sheriff's Office from the 18th and 19th floors of the building at 100 West Washington. Rather, it wants the floors for its own use and wants the county to know that it will waive any penalties or notice requirements if the Sheriff's Office leaves before the September 30, 2013 end-date of the contract.

Gerchick didn't know when Wells Fargo wished to see Arpaio leave. We couldn't reach Dennis Lindsey, the county's real estate manager, on the phone this morning. He was the one who received the recent letter from Wells Fargo (we're assured we'll have a copy for you to see later this morning).

Here's the interesting part: Gerchick says Lindsey can't be reached because he's working with Loretta Barkell, Arpaio's finance manager, to locate new office space for the MCSO.

Raymond Quintero

​The man suspected of animal cruelty for leaving his 23 dogs alone at his home for nearly two weeks with no food or water says Pima Animal Control Center's putting 19 of the dogs out of their misery is "messed up."

Yesterday, we posted a story about 34-year-old Raymond Quintero and his 23 pit bull/ boxer mixes. Quintero is suspected of leaving the dogs helpless for nearly two weeks until an anonymous tipster called authorities.

When authorities found the dogs, they were in rough shape -- many were starved, emaciated, dehydrated, had tooth disease, and suffered from untreated injuries that animal control authorities say were probably the result of the dogs attacking each other.

The fate of the pooshes, as of yesterday, was unknown. Today, we find out that 19 of the 23 pooches were euthanized because they were aggressive or too sick to be adopted.

Quintero finds the euthanizations to be wrong.

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​A 3-year-old Pinal County boy is still in critical condition after shooting himself in the head with a gun he found in his grandmother's San Tan Valley home.

According to police, on Friday night, the boy's grandmother, who lives in a rural section of the county, got scared when her dogs started barking and grabbed the gun. She put it underneath her couch to keep it close to her and forgot about it.

The next day, her grandson came to visit and guess what was still under the couch -- a loaded gun.

​Adrian Cruz, the convicted child rapist who escaped from the Maricopa County Courthouse last year, was captured yesterday afternoon in Mexico. The U.S. Marshals Service says Mexican authorities contacted it yesterday to say they had Cruz in custody. Now, a Mexican judge must decide whether to deport Cruz back to Arizona to stand trial. If Cruz returns to court here, he faces another 30 years in prison for his crimes. (UPDATE: the U.S. Marshals Service now says reports of Cruz's arrest are false, and he remains at large.)...Pima County residents will have fewer places to put their garbage after July, as county officials have decided to close two of the county's three landfills. The Sahuarita landfill will close for at least one year, and the Ina Road landfill will close permanently, leaving only the Tangerine landfill open. County officials say the landfills are operating at a deficit of a few hundred thousand dollars a year...

Convicted child rapist Adrian Cruz has been captured in Mexico.

​A young woman was taken to the hospital yesterday after she was shot at her front door. According to police, 19-year-old Erica Johnson answered the front door at her Apache Junction home because she thought the man on the doorstep was interested in buying the house. Police say the man pulled out a gun and shot Johnson in the shoulder before running off. The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-20s, with brownish hair and a medium build...Two people were taken to the hospital yesterday after a chemical spill at Angela's Textile Services in Phoenix. The Phoenix Fire Department said five gallons of formic acid, which is used for cleaning, were spilled in the plant about 4 p.m. Two women in their 30s were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and are in stable condition...The driver of an 18-wheeler was robbed at gunpoint in Avondale early this morning. Police say the driver was forced to drive the truck to an industrial area south of the Interstate 10 freeway, then robbed. The suspect then fled in the truck...The Arizona Capitol Museum needs at least 60 volunteers for an exhibit on February 20. The exhibit features one of only 26 known, original copies of the Declaration of Independence, and volunteers are needed to greet guests, direct visitors through the exhibit, and answer questions about the event. The exhibit is open to the public on a first-come-first-served basis; there will be no special tours or arrangements.