Arpaio crime sweep enters 2nd day in W. Valley

by Heather Hoch -
Apr. 24, 2009 08:50 PM
The Arizona Republic .

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's latest crime-suppression sweep ended its second day of operation in the West Valley Friday with a steadily increasing number of arrests.

At 8 p.m., Arpaio said his deputies had arrested 33 people, 23 of which were arrested during Thursday night's sweep. Eighteen of the 33 arrested are suspected of being in the country illegally. Eight warrants were cleared.

During the sweep, five people allegedly heavily armed in police raid gear broke into a home near the 13000 block of Campbell Road in Litchfield Park and kidnapped two individuals at about midnight. Authorities were able to rescue one of the victims are recover some of the weapons and two bulletproof police vests used in the attack.
Arpaio said the victim in their custody is a 32-year-old female who they are hoping will cooperate in their investigation, as they suspect it was a case of human smuggling. The five suspects are still at large.

Sheriff's deputies were also involved in a high-speed pursuit during the sweep, according to Arpaio.

The driver sped past a deputy at over 100 miles per hour and failed to yield. The man rammed into the deputy's vehicle in an attempt to evade the arrest, but was arrested on suspicion of nine charges including aggravated assault of a peace officer, reckless driving, driving a stolen vehicle and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Arpaio said these instances and all the other arrests made give him reason to do more crime-suppression sweeps such as this one, amid criticisms.

"I don't care about the Justice Department, Congress, Sharpton, demonstrators," he said. "I will continue to uphold the state law."

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