State Glance
Man sought after car goes through wall, partially into pool
PHOENIX — Phoenix police say a man crashed a car through a home’s block fence and partially into a swimming pool after driving away from a nearby parking lot at high speed.
Sgt. Alan Pfohl says the man ran from the scene Friday but has been identified, while a woman and a 3-year-old child who were in the car’s back seat were not injured.
Pfohl says police saw the man drive off from the parking lot, are now looking for him and investigating whether he was involved in shoplifting merchandise from a business in the area.
Police dog bites officer, burglary suspect
MESA — The Mesa Police Department says one of its officers and a burglary suspect were both bitten by a police dog during an arrest.
Police say the incident occurred in Phoenix early Friday morning after police followed a vehicle seen leaving an area in Mesa where officers went in response to a burglary call.
The Police Department says the bite injuries weren’t believed to be serious but that the suspect and officer were both transported to a hospital for treatment.
Firefighters help rescue dog from tunnel dug by tortoise
CHANDLER — A dog wouldn’t come out after chasing a cat into a tunnel dug by a giant tortoise in the back yard of a home in a Phoenix suburb, so homeowner Toby Passmore called for help.
Chandler firefighters responded Wednesday with people and shovels and, with the help of a city backhoe, began unearthing the 6-foot-deep tunnel dug by Passmore’s tortoise.
That allowed Passmore to squirm head-first into the hole and see that his Scottish Schnauzer “was willfully inside the hole” where it had cornered the cat.
With his ankles held by firefighters, Passmore was able to pull the dog out. It emerged dirty but unharmed.
The rescuers left the hole open to allow the cat to leave when it felt safe.
Phoenix police identify victim of hit-and-run; driver sought
PHOENIX — Phoenix police have released the identity of a woman killed when struck and dragged by a car in a hit-and-run in which no arrest has been made.
Police say 43-year-old Doesha Eskew was the woman killed early Thursday morning near East Thomas Road and North 36th Street.
Marana releases info on probe; officers fired, quit
MARANA — The Marana Police Department has released more information about an internal investigation of officers having sex on duty, resulting in one being fired and criminally charged.
Media outlets report that police officials in the Tucson suburb released details Friday about last month’s firing of 31-year-old Officer Dionysius Cazares.
According to reports, she ran license plates of vehicles that weren’t tied to any investigation and one belonged to Officer Kyla Sylvia.
Authorities say both women had sexual relationships with Officer Daniel Nicholas, who is accused of falsifying report codes to conceal an encounter with Sylvia.
Another officer, Keith Storms, is also accused of having inappropriate sexual activity while on duty.
Cazares has pleaded not guilty to computer tampering charges.
The other three officers resigned from the department in October and November.
Eastbound I-40 reopens after closure because of fatal wreck
WILLIAMS — A fatal wreck closed a four-mile stretch of eastbound Interstate 40 about 10 miles east of Williams in northern Arizona for several hours Friday morning.
State Trooper Kameron Lee says the two-vehicle wreck involved a tractortrailer rig and occurred shortly before 4 a.m.
The Arizona Department of Transportation says one eastbound lane was reopened at about 7 a.m. and that westbound lanes were unaffected.
Tucson police identify homicide victim as 38-yearold man
TUCSON — Tucson police have released the identity of a man shot after being involved in an argument with other people on a midtown street.
A Police Department spokesman says 38-yearold Carlos Simmons was shot in the chest during the Thursday morning incident.
Sgt. Pete Dugan says witnesses saw Simmons involved in an argument and then heard a gunshot. The other people then ran away and Dugan says no one has been arrested.