Thread: Bush's goodhearted family people kill, rob elderly man

Neighbors shocked over looting at hit-run scene in Mesa
JJ Hensley and Sarah McLellan
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 3, 2007 12:34 PM

Collisions are fairly common at Main Street and Horne, a narrow intersection in west Mesa, but residents were shocked at what happened after a pedestrian was struck and killed Tuesday evening.

Bystanders reportedly looted the victim's groceries as he lay dying in the parking lot shortly before 7 p.m. in front of a pawnshop near the intersection; they also stole items from a witness who was helping the victim, Mesa Police said.

The driver who swerved up onto the westbound curb of Main and hit the victim fled in pickup truck. Police recovered the dark-colored GMC truck at a nearby apartment complex but the suspect escaped. The truck is registered to Alan Ricardo Flores-Ocon, 23, and police want to question him.

Rudy Rangel, an employee at CarnicerÃ*as Rancho Grande, near where the wreck occurred, was appalled to that learn thieves would rob a dying man in the largely Hispanic community where residents look out for one another.

"This is a very close community here, especially Mexican. If there's a problem here, people help," Rangel said. "For them to steal that man's groceries, I can't see that. We'll find those people and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Rangel said prostitutes and drug abusers frequent the area but that his customers routinely walk home late at night without problems.

William Gilbert owns Gino's Pizza, a business in the parking lot where the wreck occurred, and said he saw no one stealing groceries.

"I saw the whole thing. I was out there the whole time and people were just appalled at what happened," Gilbert said. "I saw no looting."

Police said the driver was northbound on Horne and lost control of his truck while attempting to turn left onto Main. The driver hit the bus stop and an elderly man whose name police have not released. The driver also hit another truck in the parking lot before fleeing.

The accident left a mangled steel bench marked with orange construction cones and police crime scene tape Wednesday morning.

Police recovered the truck a short time later at an apartment complex at 144 N. Mesa Drive.

Jodi Vancely was walking out of the drug store across the street when she saw the pickup swerve over the curb and strike the victim. She ran back inside the store and told cashiers to call an ambulance.

"There was a guy jumping around the parking lot yelling, 'Oh my god! Oh my god!' " Vancely said.

Vancely has lived in a nearby apartment complex for a few months, and despite the sordid details of Tuesday night's collision and ensuing robbery, she wasn't concerned for her safety.

"It seems to be a pretty good neighborhood," she said.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa ... 03-on.html

Published: 10.03.2007

Thieves make off with dying man's groceries
Passersby steal items after man struck by car
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MESA, Ariz. -- Witnesses who saw a man stuck and fatally injured by a truck that careened into a bus stop watched in shock as thieves made off with his groceries, which were scattered across a parking lot.
Mesa police say the victim was waiting for a bus after grocery shopping Tuesday evening when the driver of a pickup swerved off the road and onto the sidewalk in west Mesa.
The suspect fled the scene after crashing through the bus stop, police said.
Boro Mitrovich said he was sitting close to the victim, who he described as elderly, when he was hit.
"He didn't even know what happened," said Mitrovich, 51, of Mesa, who dove out of the way. "The old man took the brunt of it," he said.
The man was thrown across a parking lot, landing in front of a restaurant and pawn and loan shop.
It was there that witnesses said people in the parking lot "began picking up the groceries and taking them," said Mesa police spokesman Detective Steve Berry.
As he was checking on the victim, Mitrovich said the man's groceries quickly disappeared. "One minute it's on the ground, the next minute it's gone," Mitrovich said.
If caught, the people who stole the groceries could face charges of theft, Berry said.
Police, using a helicopter, tracked the driver of the pickup truck to an apartment complex less than two miles from the hit-and-run scene.
By the time police got there, the driver had ditched the truck and fled, Berry said.
The front of the truck was mangled and missing a headlight. A white, plastic shopping bag was still stuck to the grill.
Police were interviewing residents at the apartment complex late Tuesday trying to get a description of the driver, but they did not have a suspect, Berry said.
The driver likely will face felony charges of leaving the scene of a fatal crash, Berry said.
Police didn't release the identity of the victim.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/204370

Yes really nice neighborhood, steel a dieing mans food! great family values. GOD what is happening to America!!! I am so glad I am 61, can't even imagine what is in store for the future of this country!

Good post

I am so glad I am 61, can't even imagine what is in store for the future of this country!

Sosad................Me too. The future looks bad but I won't be here. Maybe we'll get a miracle. I hope so.

I'm glad Mesa is located in Maricopa county.

Unless we know this involves an illegal alien, I'm moving this to other news.