Rapist case cost $120,000 in overtime
2,500 extra hours logged in hunt for serial attacker
Sarah Muench
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 8, 2008 12:00 AM

CHANDLER - Police spent more than $120,000 in overtime costs searching for the "Chandler Rapist," police statistics say.

The department used multiple units and devoted tens of thousands of hours, including more than 2,000 hours in overtime, to investigate a serial rapist that roamed Chandler for more than 18 months attacking young teenage girls.

"We'll do whatever it takes," said Detective David Ramer, a Chandler police spokesman. "We caught him before he could victimize somebody else. Of course it's going to take resources and time and money, but that's what we get paid to do, no matter what the number is."

Police arrested Santana Batiz Aceves on Jan. 11 in connection with the crimes. He has been indicted on multiple charges, including child molestation and sexual abuse of a minor. If convicted, he could be sentenced to more than 250 years in prison.

Police worked more than 28,000 hours investigating the case, said Assistant Police Chief David Neuman. Of those hours, more than 2,500 were logged as overtime, totaling more than $120,800.

"Everyone in the department was committed to finding this predator and everyone stepped up," Neuman said in an e-mail, adding that investigators faced increased workloads and had to work flexible schedules.

Many hours were spent patrolling neighborhoods looking for the suspect, Neuman said. Bicycle units, patrol, the Criminal Apprehension Unit, forensics, crime prevention, school-resource officers, public-information officers and support staff were all used in the investigation.

Detectives sifted through more than 2,000 leads and investigated 900 people, police said.

No other critical investigations or response times for calls for service were affected, Neuman said.

"We are extremely proud of the departmentwide effort that went into this investigation," Neuman said, adding that other Valley agencies provided assistance.



A version of this story may have appeared in your community Republic

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Apparently, much of the AZ media seems to have begun omitting the legal status of criminals in the news. I wonder if they are bowing to the censorship push from La Raza.