Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

RYN GARGULINSKI

rynski@tucsoncitizen.com

Police arrested another man in connection with a recent rash of violent crime, including five robberies of taxicab drivers, a Tucson police spokesman said.

Mark C. Jenkins, 19, was arrested Thursday after the issuance of a department-wide bulletin, Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said Friday in a news release.

Jenkins was booked into the Pima County Jail on four counts of armed robbery, four counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of aggravated assault and one count of kidnapping.

Police allege Jenkins worked with three others, who have already been arrested, in a series of armed robberies. However, police believe Jenkins was not involved in all the crimes.

The robberies for which he was charged include:

• A residential break-in on Sept. 25 where a juvenile was held at gunpoint and forced to surrender his wallet, laptop computer and other possessions.

• A cab driver robbery on Sept. 26 where three men had their faces covered with bandannas

• A cab driver robbery on Sept. 28 where the driver was held at gunpoint

• A cab driver robbery on Monday where the driver was threatened with a gun and a knife

Jenkins was not thought to have taken part in Wednesday’s crimes, which included two midtown robberies of cabbies and an attempted robbery where the cab driver sped away.

The other three suspects arrested in connection with these crimes are Joseph J. Cotton, 19; Mazi L. Griffith, 30, and Miea D. Stoutamire, 27.

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

SHERYL KORNMAN

skornman@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson police have arrested three of four suspects in five recent armed robberies targeting taxi drivers.

The fourth suspect’s identity is known and police are seeking to arrest him.

Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said none of the cab drivers was harmed.

Two of the robberies and one attempted robbery took place Wednesday.

Police believe three of the suspects also were involved in a residential break-in and robbery Sept. 25. In that incident, the men forced a juvenile to the floor and held him at gunpoint while they stole his wallet, a laptop computer and other property. The juvenile was not physically injured.

Police said that on Sept. 26, three men whose faces were covered with bandannas robbed a cab driver in the 1600 block of North Camilla Boulevard.

On Sept. 28, two men with handguns robbed a cab driver in that same block, police said.

And on Sept. 29, another cabbie said he was robbed by two men at 2401 E. Glenn St. In that incident, one man had a knife and the other had a handgun.

On Wednesday, two midtown robberies and an unsuccessful robbery targeted cab drivers, Pacheco said.

In the third incident, in the 3200 block of East Willard Street, the driver – who knew of the previous robberies – sped away when he was confronted by two men armed with handguns.

Joseph J. Cotton, 19, of the 700 block of East Limberlost Road, and Mazi L. Griffith, 30, of Tucson. are charged with seven counts of armed robbery, seven counts of aggravated robbery and five counts of aggravated assault. Cotton is being held on $100,000 bail in the Pima County Jail and Griffith is being held on $75,000 bail.

Miea D. Stoutamire, 27, of Tucson, is being held on $75,000 bail on three counts each of armed robbery and aggravated robbery.

Citizen Staff Writer

SHERYL KORNMAN

skornman@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson police arrested four teenagers Wednesday suspected in a string of violent crimes, including armed robbery, kidnapping and rape.

All the incidents took place between Aug. 20 and Sept 24, police said.

The four arrested are Charles E. Flowers, 19; Tyrel Flowers, 17; Dion Bruner, 18; and Christopher L. Bacon, 17. All remain in the Pima County Jail on bond.

Together they face a total of 86 felony charges.

Tyrel Flowers, 17, is a member of the Bloods street gang, police said.

The men allegedly began what Tucson police Sgt. Fabian Pacheco and Lt. Rick Middleton called a “violent crime spree” by robbing the Cash Box Pawn Shop, 2014 S. Craycroft Road, on Aug. 20 and taking 16 handguns.

Pacheco said the four seemed emboldened by their success. They are charged with using the weapons to force their way into an apartment in the 7700 block of East Broadway at about 9:30 the next evening.

Residents told police several armed men entered the apartment, stole some property and took the occupants’ vehicle.

On Aug. 27, at about 2:05 a.m., three men armed with handguns entered a Circle K at 8630 E. Golf Links Road and ordered the clerk to the floor. The three took cash from the register, dragged an automated teller machine outside and took money from it.

On Aug. 30 at 4:48 a.m., two men with handguns ordered a clerk at the Circle K at 7900 E. Broadway to the floor. They took cash from the register and “unsuccessfully attempted to pry open an ATM,” Pacheco said.

Eleven minutes later, two men with guns pulled off another “takedown” robbery, forcing a clerk to the floor at a Circle K, 7475 E. 22nd St., and stealing money from the cash register. They failed to pry open an ATM.

Twenty-seven minutes later, another convenience store was robbed, police said. Two men with guns ordered a clerk to the floor at a Quik Mart at 1204 N. Alvernon Way. They took the money from that store’s cash register and fled.

On Sept. 15, at about 1:20 a.m., a 23-year-old woman was carjacked by two men with handguns as she was getting out of her vehicle in the 1100 block of East Irvington Road.

Middleton said the men drove the woman to a desert area in the 2800 block of East Ajo Way, bound her, raped her and left her there as they fled in her car.

At about 1:35 a.m., three men wearing masks robbed a Circle K at 2750 N. Tucson Blvd.

At about 3:15 a.m.,, three men believed to have also robbed the Circle K robbed a Quik Mart at 1890 S. Mission Road, and at 3:50 a.m., also are believed to have robbed a Quik Mart at 1140 S. Fourth Ave.

Middleton said robbery, sexual assault and gang detectives worked on the case, which was helped by a tip from a 911 caller.

The suspects, under surveillance by police, were captured Sept. 24 by members of the Gang Tactical Unit, who pursued them on foot.

The men, who police said appeared to be attempting a robbery, ran from a Walgreens at Campbell Avenue and Irvington Road into a nearby apartment complex, where they were arrested.

According to online jail records and a jail clerk, Bacon is being held on 30 felony counts in the Pima County Jail on $100,000 bail. Bruner is being held on 20 felony counts and on $100,000 bail. Charles Flowers is being held on 30 felony counts and $100,000 bail and Tyrel Flowers is being held on six felony counts and $50,000 bail.

Citizen Staff Writer

SHERYL KORNMAN

skornman@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson police arrested a man Wednesday in a string of robberies at area pharmacies.

Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said David Y. Martinez, 30, is in Pima County Jail on 24 charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping.

Police have investigated five robberies since May 26 in which a man obtained more than 1,000 doses of OxyContin at gunpoint, Pacheco said. OxyContin is a narcotic painkiller that is highly addictive.

Pacheco, a spokesman for the Tucson Police Department, said the robber was likely selling the drug on the street for $5 to $10 a tablet.

In the most recent incident, the robber got away with 600 to 700 doses of the drug, Pacheco said.

Martinez’s bond was set at $100,000.

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

SHERYL KORNMAN

skornman@tucsoncitizen

Tucson police are looking for a man who they say robbed a midtown Walgreens of “a large amount” of OxyContin, the trade name for a synthetic opiate prescribed for pain.

The prescription drug is commonly sold by the tablet on the street to drug users.

Police said the robber is 5 feet 5 to 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 130 to 150 pounds and is 25 to 30 years old.

Police spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said the man is “connected” to seven robberies of pharmacy retailers here: five in the city and two in Pima County.

The most recent incident took place Sept. 7 at 11:12 a.m. at the Walgreens at 3330 E. Speedway Blvd.

Detectives ask that anyone with information about the robber call 911 or 88-CRIME.

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

A 20-year-old Tucson man was convicted of felony first-degree murder Tuesday in the shooting death of a homeowner slain on his 34th birthday.

Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Hantman will choose between life in prison with parole possible after 25 years or life with no parole when he sentences Julian Adrian Wyatt on June 9.

A jury convicted Wyatt Tuesday in the death of Rafael Cuen-Molina.

Sheriff’s deputies said Cuen-Molina heard a noise outside his Southwest Side home about 2:30 a.m. Jan. 3, 2006, and went outside to investigate.

The father of three ran back inside, yelling to his wife, “We’re being robbed!” and returned to his home’s front door, deputies said.

His wife heard a shot, followed by a thump and about 15 more shots, deputies said.

Co-defendant Jacob Valenzuela, 20, also was charged with first-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and testified against Wyatt.

In returning its verdict, jurors unanimously said Wyatt was guilty of felony murder, meaning he didn’t kill with premeditation.

A.J. FLICK

ajflick@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

A gunman committed what police have termed “a takedown robbery” at a midtown credit union Thursday.

Tucson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco explained that a takedown robbery is one in which a thief typically pulls a weapon and orders people to the floor.

There were no reports of injuries in the robbery at the Arizona Federal Credit Union, 2900 E. Broadway, Pacheco said.

A witness to the 9:30 a.m. robbery, David Potts, 19, said, “I was waiting in line and a guy ran in wearing a ski mask. He yelled at everyone to get down.

“He had a gun, like a handgun. And he told (the tellers) to let him back into the teller area.”

Potts said the gunman demanded money from the two tellers.

“It was kind of scary. I’d never been a part of anything like that,” said the University of Arizona sophomore, who’d gone to the credit union for some lunch money.

Potts reported that others in the credit union were scared, as one of the tellers, plus a 2- and a 3-year-old, were all in tears afterward.

DAVID TEIBEL

dteibel@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

Tucson police are investigating the first theft related to this year’s Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase – before the event has even begun.

The $120,000 value of the amber jewelry taken tops the value of merchandise stolen during last year’s show.

The show starts Saturday, but thieves were busy as early as Sunday morning, when they made off with the load from a California gem dealer’s truck, Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said Friday.

The rental truck was parked overnight Saturday in a lot in the 3600 block of West Placita Del Correcaminos, close to the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in the Tucson Mountains, Pacheco said.

The padlock on the truck had been cut and four suitcases packed with amber stones in sterling silver mountings were reported taken.

Pacheco did not know whether the truck was targeted because it was filled with jewelry or how many people were involved in the theft.

“We encourage anyone with high-value jewelry and gemstones to bring the merchandise inside and not leave it in a vehicle overnight,” he said. He advised owners to store high-value items in a safe and not leave valuables unattended in plain view.

Tucson police include extra patrols to cover the gem shows every year. They include bicycle, motorcycle, on-duty, off-duty and undercover officers.

“While they are eyeing the jewelry,” Pacheco said of potential thieves, “we’re eyeing them.”

Tucson police statistics show $111,574 worth of items reported stolen during the 2007 show, with 34 gem-show related incidents.

Most were thefts, he said, with a couple of lost property and fraud cases in the mix. Only one person was arrested in connection with last year’s gem shows.

Police said anyone who notes suspicious or illegal activity at the gem shows should call 911 or contact a nearby officer.

RYN GARGULINSKI

rynski@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

The Tucson and Marana police departments are asking the public for help in identifying a man who they believe robbed two banks and attempted to rob a third in a five-week span.

The 40- to 50-year-old suspect is described as white with a gray beard and long brown hair. He is believed to be about 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 10 inches tall and weigh about 220 pounds.

The robberies were:

• Nov. 30, involving a man who displayed a handgun and demanded money from a teller at Canyon Community Bank, 6811 N. Thornydale Road. The thief got away on foot with an undisclosed amount.

• Dec. 27 at Compass Bank, 7880 E. Broadway. Police say the same man showed a teller a handgun, demanded money and again fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

• Jan. 2 at Wells Fargo Bank, 7820 N. Silverbell Road. Police say the armed man again demanded money from a teller, but apparently was spooked by bank employees watching him.

This time he fled empty-handed in a 1970s model, pale blue sedan with a taped-up window on the driver’s side.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME, an anonymous tip line.

MARY BUSTAMANTE

mbustamante@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

Tucson police are investigating whether a man arrested over the weekend in a hotel robbery is the same man suspected of committing a number of other robberies Friday and Saturday.
Vincent A. Powell, 41, of the 7600 block of East Sierra Park Loop, was being held in the Pima County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail on two counts of armed robbery, authorities said.
Powell was arrested after a gun-wielding man held up the Ramada Limited Tucson West Hotel, 665 North Freeway, shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday, said Officer Dallas Wilson.
Wilson said detectives suspect Powell did a number of other holdups Friday and Saturday. He had no details on the other cases other than no one was hurt in any of them.
Wilson said detectives did not release information on what led them to suspect Powell in the other cases.
In the hotel robbery, Wilson said a clerk called 911. When officers got to the hotel they spotted a man matching the suspect’s description walking toward the back of the building and tried to stop him, Wilson said.
The man ran and other officers were called in to help surround the area, Wilson said.
Officers arrested Powell without incident, Wilson said.

Citizen Staff Writer

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Wells Fargo is offering $10,000 for information leading to convictions in a string of recent bank robberies, a Tucson police spokesman said Friday.

All four robberies were conducted “take-down-style” by armed men, Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said. The bank tellers and customers were forced to the floor at gunpoint.

In three cases, the men wore dark-colored ski masks that covered their faces.

The first robbery happened Nov. 1 at the Wells Fargo branch at 7171 E. Tanque Verde Road, Pacheco said.

One man held the people inside the bank on the floor at gunpoint while the other hopped over the counter, Pacheco said.

He said the two made away with an undisclosed amount of money in a 2006 Honda Civic that had been carjacked the day before in the 300 block of South Wilmot Road.

On Nov. 30, a man carrying a pistol-grip shotgun walked into the Wells Fargo branch at 8315 E. Broadway, Pacheco said. He put the money he demanded from the tellers into a bag and ran east down an alley.

Tucson Health Care Credit Union was the next victim. The credit union, 5280 E. Grant Road, was robbed Dec. 12 by a masked man who escaped with cash in a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder that had been carjacked in the 1600 block of North Country Club Road the day before, Pacheco said.

Then on Dec. 17, a man without a mask who was armed with a large revolver robbed a Wells Fargo branch at 1370 N. Silverbell Road, Pacheco said. The man, described as 20 to 30 years old, 5 foot 4 to 5 foot 6 and 140 to 150 pounds, fled on foot. Pacheco said witnesses saw him go west.

Pacheco said police are especially worried about the robberies because of the violence involved.

“We want to catch them before it escalates to a tragedy,” he said.

Anyone with information should call 911 or 88-CRIME.

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

Police arrived at a midtown burger joint Thursday night as its employees and customers were being robbed, a Tucson police spokesman said.

They had been called by a passerby about 10:30 p.m., and the manager of the restaurant – Whataburger, 4352 E. Speedway Blvd. – had set off the silent alarm, Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said.

Police set up a containment area outside the restaurant, Pacheco said, but before they finished, two men ran out the front door, one of them carrying a gun.

“That was actually to our advantage,” Pacheco said. “We didn’t have to deal with a hostage situation.”

The two men dropped cash, a gun and valuables and fled, he said.

Pacheco said the restaurant reported that the men had used guns – one real and the other implied – to force employees to empty cash registers and a safe and customers to give up their valuables.

One of the fleeing men was caught half an hour later, the other 30 minutes after that, Pacheco said.

Aaron Jesus Ortiz, 19, and Andres Bracamonte, 18, were booked into Pima County Jail on Thursday night, a jail clerk said. They were both charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, kidnapping and first-degree burglary.

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

The Arizona Republic
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

MESA – Mesa Police arrested six men Sunday who they say are linked to the “Zip Tie” robberies throughout metropolitan Phoenix.

Chief George Gascòn said the suspects, three from Mesa and three from Gilbert, are all being charged with felonies in connection with seven robberies.

The robberies were similar, according to police. The men maintained certain roles during each incident and would force customers to the back of the store and tie them up.

In one case, one of the men pointed a gun at an 11-year-old girl and tied her up. In another, one of the suspects beat a store owner and fired four shots.

Police estimated $365,000 was stolen during the robberies. But the suspects always stole money from the stores and never the customers, police said.

Four of the armed robberies occurred in Mesa between May and Oct. 13.

Assistant Police Chief John Meza described the men as an “organized crime group” who used violence and tied up victims to rob stores.

The men who were arrested face various armed robbery, kidnapping and weapons charges. They are Juan Mendez, 32; Kalib Jivran Mondragon, 21; Humberto Ochoa-Alvarado, 30; Juan Felipe Torres, 25; Javier Rodriguez Robledo, 26; and Miguel Mendez, 35.

Four of the six are illegal immigrants, Meza said.

To bring an end to the investigation, police constructed a special armed robbery task force, made up of one sergeant and eight detectives. Investigators worked 37 straight hours at one point, police said.

Police analyzed patterns using computerized crime data and said the Mesa robberies all occurred in central Mesa and during daylight to maximize the chances of higher amounts of money. The men conducted their own surveillance and made minor purchases at the stores before robbing them.

The other two “Zip Tie” robberies occurred in Phoenix and Buckeye. Those investigations are ongoing.

The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Republic

A bank has doubled the reward to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of men who held a bank employee and family hostage in their Chandler home, then took them to a Tempe bank and forced the employee to open the vault.

Federal authorities said Monday afternoon it’s possible the thieves could have a background in law enforcement; they used surveillance to stalk the employee and tactical gear to rob $400,000 from the bank Friday.

John Lewis, the Phoenix FBI special agent in charge, said during a briefing that the robbers appeared to be familiar with security practices.

“They are possibly involved in the military or law enforcement,” Lewis said.

He cited the tactical gear the men dressed in, and surveillance and shackles they used on the employee.

“It would not surprise me,” he said.

Lewis said authorities are looking for help from “anyone who thinks they know someone who may have been involved in this.”

The FBI has received tips since Sunday and is spreading the information nationwide.

The robbery took place in the morning at a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Tempe after thieves shackled two Chandler residents, one of whom is a bank manager, in handcuffs for 12 hours in the couple’s home starting Thursday night.

Before the bank opened, the couple were taken to it and the manager was forced to open the vault with another employee when they arrived for work.

The thieves escaped in a white, silver or light-colored 2001-08 Plymouth or Chrysler minivan, which was photographed on a bank surveillance camera.

In a separate incident Wednesday night, the same thieves held another couple and their young child hostage in that family’s home. Authorities have not named the victims.

One of the people held in that incident was the manager of the Desert Schools Federal Credit Union in Chandler. The plan was scrapped only after the suspects realized they couldn’t pull it off, Lewis said.

The victims of the Tempe robbery were left uninjured but were terrorized inside the bank after the heist, Lewis said.

“These guys cleaned out the vault,” Lewis said.

In a peculiar twist, the thieves took a cell phone from the home of their first victims to call 911 and report the hostage-taking.

Lewis said those 911 tapes could soon be released.

Police and the FBI released descriptions of the thieves: A white male 25 to 35 years old, 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall, slender with an athletic build, brown eyes and wearing a wedding ring with a dull gold finish. A white male 25 to 35 years old, also 5 feet 9 to 6 feet tall but with a husky build, weighing 190 to 210 pounds, with short brown hair and a smoker’s cough or one from an illness. A white male with an athletic build may have driven the getaway van, police said.

Two of the robbers wore black tactical-style clothing, including hoods, police said. The third posed as a construction worker by wearing a mustard-yellow hard hat and orange reflective vest.

The Arizona Republic
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

PHOENIX – The FBI on Sunday offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of three men who took two Chandler families hostage in a scheme to steal more than $400,000 from a Tempe bank in the state’s largest robbery of its kind.

The sophisticated heist worries federal and local police who fear the three men will repeat the crime.

“We anticipate after they blow through this $400,000 they will do it again,” said John Lewis, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Arizona.

The robbery took place Friday morning at a Wells Fargo bank in Tempe after three men held a Chandler couple, one of whom is a bank manager, in handcuffs for 24 hours at the family’s home starting Thursday night.

The men had held another couple and their young child hostage for about an hour at that family’s home the night before in a failed attempt to rob a Desert Schools Federal Credit Union.

The first plan was scrapped after the men realized they couldn’t pull off the robbery, Lewis said.

“The particular potential for violence was high,” he said at a news conference Sunday at FBI headquarters in Phoenix.

He called the men brazen and dangerous.

Chandler police Chief Sherry Kiyler, who attended the news conference, said police are worried about the safety of all the area’s residents but particularly bank employees.

Kiyler said the men would face kidnapping charges in addition to those for armed robbery if caught.

“We need to find these suspects and make sure they’re removed from our streets,” she said.

Tempe police Chief Tom Ryff said residents need to be aware of their surroundings because the men apparently stalked the victims, possibility following them after work to their homes.

The Arizona Republic