Thread: Ariz. Authorities Pursue 2 Auto-Theft Suspects for 50 miles

Ariz. Authorities Pursue 2 Auto-Theft Suspects for 50 miles

Updated: Wednesday, 14 Jul 2010, 4:23 PM MDT
Published : Wednesday, 14 Jul 2010, 10:28 AM MDT

PHOENIX - Two auto-theft suspects took Arizona authorities on a nearly 50-mile chase before ditching their stuck vehicle in the desert in Casa Grande.

Television footage showed the two men on a rocky hillside and being illuminated by the lights of a state Department of Public Safety helicopter late Tuesday night. Phoenix police say five suspects in the case were already in custody.

Police tried to arrest the men at a Phoenix Circle K near 32nd Street and Broadway after an investigation, but authorities say one driver attempted to run the officers over and then sped off.

No officers were injured, but that started the chase down Interstate 10 with the suspects going off the road and into the desert in Casa Grande. TV footage showed the SUV getting stuck in loose dirt after it went over a dry canal.

Three men then exited the vehicle and started running. They were surrounded by authorities and were arrested. One man is facing charges, the second was simply a passenger in the vehicle and turned over to ICE, and a third ran off into the desert and has not been located.

Felipe De Jesus Sandoval Padilla, 24, was arrested and will be charged with aggravated assault. The man who ran off was the same man who ran off at the Circle K.

My Comments:
The Arizona Republic has a more detailed accounting including the men trying to run the police over and the police shooting at them. There were several stolen vehicles involved and they were being tailed by an Auto theft joint task force consisting of Phoenix, Mesa, Arizona DPS.

One they have announced is illegal and the other 6 were booked into county jail and one got away in the Pinal County desert in the same area as the deputy who was shot several months ago.

These illegals steal SUV's and Pickups and drive them across the border to Mexico to use in there smuggling operations.

Another news station reports that the auto theft task force has been watching this auto theft ring since February and they suspect them of being part of an organization that steals trucks to use for smuggling of drugs and aliens. Here is the video news link.

http://www.kpho.com/video/23486738/index.html



http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/lo ... x-07142010

1 suspect is still on the loose after 40-mile chase on I-10
by Kyle Daly and Colin Lecher - Jul. 14, 2010 06:48 PM
The Arizona Republic
.

Authorities continued their hunt Wednesday for a suspect who bailed out of a stolen SUV after a lengthy chase from Phoenix into the desert outside Casa Grande.

The 40-mile chase that involved officers shooting at the SUV ended late Tuesday when police apprehended two men in the rugged desert.


One suspect was found in the SUV but was not arrested in connection with the chase. The two others fled on foot into the desert, where authorities caught one.

The incident began around 3 p.m. Tuesday as detectives from the Auto Theft Task Force – made up of DPS, Phoenix and Glendale law enforcement –followed a vehicle that had been reported stolen earlier in the day. Police said the vehicle had a Lojack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System, allowing authorities to monitor its movements.

During the operation, DPS and police officials observed a Ford Expedition dropping people off where the stolen vehicle was parked.

At around 7 p.m., four men got into the stolen vehicle and drove away from a west Phoenix apartment complex. A pickup truck, also believed stolen, left the complex with the stolen vehicle. There were two people inside the pickup truck, police reported.

Authorities followed the pickup truck and stolen vehicle in unmarked cars with an air unit hovering above. The two vehicles headed east on Interstate 10. According to police, the occupants were unaware they were being watched. The vehicles left the freeway and pulled into a Circle K near Broadway Road and 32nd Street, police reported.

Authorities attempted to detain all the individuals, but when a DPS officer tried to grab one suspect, a Phoenix police K9 bit the officer's left arm. He was later taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Five men were detained but one man fled on foot down 32nd Street, where he was eventually picked up by the same Ford Expedition seen earlier.

A witness told investigators that the driver of the SUV turned the vehicle toward an officer who had been chasing the man. The driver apparently punched the accelerator and the officer and a colleague responded by firing at the Expedition, but the vehicle did not stop, according to authorities.

The SUV drove onto Interstate 10 and sped east.

A Mesa police helicopter followed the Ford Expedition from above as patrol cars tailed the vehicle from behind.

The SUV drove for about 30 miles and turned off the freeway near milepost 182 north of Casa Grande, and drove eight more miles into the desert.

Two occupants eventually had to bail from the SUV when the vehicle got stuck, according to DPS.

One man was arrested and another man remained in the desert as of Wednesday afternoon. Gila River police and a Mesa police air unit were searching for the man. A third man, who stayed in the SUV, was detained but not arrested in connection with the chase.

A DPS official said the officer bit by the K9 remained in the hospital Wednesday expecting to undergo surgery. The officer was reported to be in stable condition



Read more:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... z0tiQ4hmAz