Image: AZ DPS

Hunter French, Arizona Department of Public Safety pilot, assisted in two tricky mountain rescues over three days.

​Flying injured hikers from mountaintops twice in three days tested the skills of veteran rescue pilot Hunter French.

This dude gets an A-plus.

On March 2, the Arizona Department of Public Safety chopper pilot helped rescue a Washington hiker who'd fallen into a crevice in the Superstition Mountains.

Three days earlier, French was interviewed by several TV news crews after assisting on a rescue of five teenagers in the White Tanks. That incident required French to hover carefully a few feet from the mountainside before performing a "long-line" maneuver, in which a patient in a basket and an attending rescue worker dangle below the chopper from a rope.

French also moonlights as a helicopter instructor for Guidance Aviation, where he's the chief flight instructor for the instrument program.

In the March 2 rescue, French first used his skills to drop off 14 mountain-rescue workers from the skids of his chopper onto a rocky summit in the Superstition Mountains.

Edward Weston, 47, of Washington, had fallen into a crevice about three-and-a-half miles north of the trailhead for the First Water trail, according to DPS.
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MCSO

Slain MCSO Deputy Bill Coleman

​A scholarship has been set up to honor the memory of slain Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy Bill Coleman, who was murdered last month while responding to a burglary call at a medical facility in Anthem.

The Rotary Club of Anthem is the group behind the scholarship honoring the slain deputy.

The scholarship provides $1,000 to assist young people pursuing a career in law enforcement, fire fighting, or paramedic training.

"We are touched the Coleman family accepted our offer to honor deputy Coleman in a manner fitting with the courage, dedication, and professionalism he exemplified in our community," Rotary of Anthem President Dave Newham says. "We hope the Coleman scholarship will help offset some of the expenses incurred while seeking training in this noble profession."

Coleman, 50, was fatally shot when he and other deputies responded to a burglary call at a medical center in Anthem about 4 a.m. on January 8.

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MCSO

Deputy Bill Coleman, murdered father of four.

​Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced yesterday that two men have been arrested for allegedly breaking into the Anthem medical facility where MCSO Deputy Bill Coleman was murdered earlier this month by 30-year-old "UFO-ologist" Drew Ryan Maras, who was sleeping in the parking lot and likely has nothing to do with the burglary.

Get all the details here.

The only reason Coleman was in the parking lot of the medical facility -- and even came across Maras -- is because a security alarm went off after Michael Allen Pierce, 33, and Shawn Patrick Brannen, 23, allegedly broke into the building.

As Pierce and Brannen were allegedly committing a felony, Coleman was murdered while responding to the alarm.

Under Arizona law, if someone dies during the commission of a felony, the person(s) committing the felony can be charged with murder -- just ask "murderers" Matthew Peters, 21, and Joseph Metcalf, 19 (more on them below).

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Image: YouTube, (shot by ABC-15 News)

A Department of Public Safety officer chases a terrier on a Valley freeway in a video going somewhat viral today.

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A video of Arizona Department of Public Safety officers chasing a Yorkshire terrier on a Phoenix freeway is making the rounds on the Internet, and seems to be quite popular with the British.

"Who let the dog out! Terrier on the run leads police on frantic OJ Simpson-style highway chase," screams the Daily Mail.

"Pesky pooch in motorway mayhem," says the Sun.

It's a darned cute video, (see it below), with a couple of heart-stopping moments as the short-legged pup runs into traffic and seems seconds away from being splattered.
 

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PCSO

Robert Taylor = hero.

​A Pinal County sheriff's deputy who saved two lives in two separate incidents -- all in about 45 minutes -- will be honored as a hero at tonight's Arizona Diamondbacks game.

On the afternoon of February 3, PCSO Deputy Robert Taylor saved the lives of an infant and an elderly man before most of us sat down for lunch.

About 11:30 a.m., the PCSO got a call about a baby who was choking. In the chaos, the baby's parents gave the 911 dispatcher the wrong address. The address was close enough, though, and Taylor, who was in the area, found the baby's mother outside her house waiting to flag down the responding officer.

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