MCSO

Jason Michael Amos

​Jason Amos is in a little bit of trouble.

You see, he recently got a 17-year-old girl pregnant, which wouldn't be a huge deal if Amos wasn't 25 -- but he is, and he now faces several sex with a kid-related crimes.

According to court records obtained by New Times, the 17-year-old's step-mother contacted Surprise police on January 19, to let them know that her step-daughter was pregnant -- and that the suspected father, Amos, is 25.

The girl told police she'd had sex with Amos several times since turning 17 in August. On several of those occasions, the victim's brother -- who happens to be one of Amos' friends -- was sleeping in the same room.

On one occasion, the victim was sleeping in a bed with her brother. Amos was sleeping in the same room, but on the floor.

In the middle of the night, Amos grabbed the girl's arm and told her to come onto the floor with him. She declined, at first, but Amos kept tugging on her arm, the girl later told police.

Finally, the girl gave in, and had sex with Amos on the floor -- as her brother slept in the same room.

More >>

MCSO

Robert Hebner III

​A mentally ill Mesa man was arrested Friday after police say he sexually assaulted his court appointed therapist in her office.

Robert Gene Hebner III has a history of substance abuse. He has multiple convictions for crimes like endangerment and marijuana possession, according to records on the Maricopa County Superior Court's website. He's also a diagnosed schizophrenic.

According to court records obtained by New Times, Hebner went to his court-ordered therapy session on Monday afternoon. It was the first time he'd met his new, female therapist.

About 25 minutes into the session, Hebner told the woman he was going to "make a pass at [her]."

More >>

MCSO

Larry Lee Thompson

​Larry Lee Thompson, a transient ex-con with a long history of domestic violence, felt that his 48-year-old girlfriend got a little lippy with him last night as the two were hanging out on the streets of Phoenix. So he stabbed her 16 times.

It should be noted that last night was the second time Thompson stabbed the victim in the last 30 days -- she apparently "disrespected" him last month, too.

According to court records obtained by New Times, police were called to the 700 block of West Madison Street about 11 p.m. yesterday after someone called 9-1-1 to report a stabbing.

When police arrived, they found Thompson's girlfriend -- who is also homeless -- bleeding on the sidewalk.

More >>

Michael Robert Martinez, 30, of Tempe, was arrested on Monday in connection with an attempted rape at the Arizona Grand Resort in south Phoenix.

​A Tempe man was arrested at the Arizona Grand Resort in south Phoenix on Monday afternoon in connection with an attempted rape of an employee in a restroom.

Before the attack, the victim told police she saw Michael Robert Martinez, 30, hanging out near the door to the restroom, which was located outside of the reservation office where she worked, in a separate building.

Martinez entered the bathroom as she was washing her hands, coming up from behind and pulling down her tights and underwear "to her boots," police wrote in a booking sheet.

The victim, also 30, says her attacker knocked her down, laying on top of her. She struggled against him, screaming for help. She managed to wrestle free and ran out the door.

If she hadn't have gotten away, "she was sure the suspect would have raped her," records state.

More >>

Image: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Jutrina Tillman, 32, of Phoenix, was arrested on Christmas for allegedly holding her kids at knifepoint and choking her 5-year-old son.

​
A Phoenix mom choked her 5-year-old son for playing video games and threatened him and her teenage daughter with a butcher knife on Christmas Day, police say.

Jutrina Tillman, 32, who was arrested after police showed up and interviewed the terrified children, is already under investigation by Child Protective Services on suspicion of abusing her 13-year-old daughter.

Records state that the family fight began about 9 p.m. after Tillman, who'd been drinking all day, became enraged at the boy for playing a video game he'd received as a present. She slammed the game to the floor and dragged the kid to a bedroom.

The woman's young son later told one officer "that his mom put her hand around his throat and squeezed until he thought he was going to fall asleep and closed his eyes," court records say.

Tillman's distraught daughter burst into the bedroom and shoved her. That's when Tillman went to the kitchen and grabbed a six-to-eight-inch knife. She pointed the tip of the knife at the teen's chest and took her cell phone away, records say, screaming that she would kill the girl.

More >>

​A 19-year-old Phoenix man is in "extremely critical condition" after reportedly getting shot in the head while driving through a Phoenix park last night.

Phoenix Sergeant Steve Martos says the victim and a 17-year-old friend were driving through a park at 3100 West Morten Avenue in Phoenix about 8:15 p.m. yesterday when someone started firing at their vehicle.

According to Martos, the two were "maneuvering" through the parking lot when the gunman started shooting at them.

More >>

MCSO

Brandi Farnberg's not a bad lookin' woman. She's also an alleged car thief.

​Sorry, gentlemen, according to her Facebook page, Brandi Farnberg, 23, is in a relationship. According to police, she's also an alleged car thief with aliases like "Sabrina Angelo," "Brandy Torres," and "Kacey Whitmore."

Farnberg was arrested early yesterday morning after she was stopped by police while driving a stolen car. Additionally, police found her in possession of stolen credit cards.

Farnberg was stopped at a red light at Broadway and Dobson roads about 1 a.m. yesterday when a cop pulled up behind her and ran the plates on the car she was driving.

The car, as we mentioned, turned out to be stolen.

After stopping the 23-year-old, the officer asked her to throw the keys to the vehicle out the window. One of the keys, the officer notes in his report, was a "jiggle key" often used by car thieves to start stolen vehicles.

More >>

Image: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Ryan Hazelton, 20, is seen here still wearing his scrubs after being arrested at the hospital where he works in connection with child-porn charges.

​
A 20-year-old surgery assistant at a Sun City hospital was arrested at work last week following a grand-jury indictment on charges of possessing child pornography.

Ryan Hazelton was 17 and living with his folks in Chandler when a 2009 Tempe police investigation caught up to him and his family's home computer.

After admitting to downloading and storing the illegal pictures, police say, Hazelton was booked into jail. He was freed pending charges -- which cops submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office a couple of weeks after he turned 18.

More >>

Image: AZ DPS

Christian Palacios, a Valley resident and American citizen, and two Mexican nationals, Julio Cesar Alavarado Yanez and Osvaldo Moreno Herrera, are being sought by DPS in connection with a pot-smuggling ring investigation.

​
Three men being sought by the Arizona Department of Public Safety are suspected of helping to smuggle tons of pot for various Mexican cartels.

Christian Palacios, a Valley resident and the only U.S. citizen in the trio, and two Mexican nationals, Julio Cesar Alavarado Yanez and Osvaldo Moreno Herrera, were higher-ups in a well-armed group led by Ines Moreno, who was busted in October. That bust led to the indictments last week of Moreno and five other people who now stand accused of bringing hundreds of pounds of pot into Arizona weekly.

The typical m.o., says DPS, was to use guards armed with AK-47s to accompany the smugglers making their way from Mexico through the desert of southern Arizona.

More >>

Image: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Darren Ross, 25, is suspected of helping three other people rob a Florida visitor of $5,000.

​
Taking a cab from the airport this weekend would have been cheaper -- and a whole lot less frightening -- for a Florida visitor who was robbed of $5,000.

The victim, who wasn't named in court records, was picked up at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Saturday at about 3:45 p.m. by an acquaintance, 23-year-old Valerie Prieto.

Records don't state the nature of their relationship. But they were apparently supposed to check into a hotel together, and she knew the victim was loaded with cash. He didn't mind when Prieto suggested they stop at a friend's home first to buy some pot.

Prieto convinced the guy to come with her into the house at 4619 South 20th Street, and he quickly found himself looking into the barrel of a gun.

Darren Ross, 25, searched the victim's clothing while an unknown suspect held a gun to the man's head, demanding he give them everything he had, the victim later told police.


More >>