Mesa Police Arrest Three for Homicide

 

On March 20, 2022, 18-year-old Chase Lemons was shot and killed in his car in the area of 2200 S. Labelle in Mesa.  An adult male passenger in Lemons’ vehicle was also shot but survived his injuries.  At the time of the homicide a suspect was not able to be identified and there was very little physical evidence to work with at the crime scene.  Through tireless efforts, hard work, and creative investigative techniques, investigators were able to identify and arrest multiple suspects involved in this homicide on May 27, 2022.

During the investigation, multiple search warrants were served, and suspects interviewed. Officers learned that the suspects planned on robbing the victim during an illegal marijuana transaction.  The suspects approached the victim when he was sitting inside his car with an adult male passenger.  The victim attempted to flee the area in his car when one of the suspects opened fire, striking both Lemons and his passenger.  Lemons died several days later in the hospital and the passenger survived his injuries.

The three suspects involved were identified as 18-year-old Richard Mejia, 20-year-old Devon O’Rourke and 19- year-old Isaiah Enriquez.  Enriquez was identified as the shooter.

A firearm matching the caliber of the firearm used to murder Lemons was located and seized as well as cellphone data, which put Enriquez at the scene of the homicide.

This investigation is still on-going; however, probable cause was developed to arrest and book:

Isaiah Enriquez for 1 count First Degree Murder, 1 count Armed Robbery and 1 count Aggravated Assault

Richard Mejia for 1 count First Degree Murder and 1 count Armed Robbery

Devon O’Rourke for 1 count First Degree Murder and 1 count Armed Robbery

In Arizona, if a person’s death occurs in the course of, or in the immediate flight from, the commission of certain crimes, it is considered murder in the first degree.  Since Mejia and O’Rourke were knowingly involved in the robbery of Lemons, which led to his murder, they are also responsible for his death and were charged accordingly with the homicide. This is called the felony murder rule.

Isaiah Enriquez
$2,000,000 bond

Richard Mejia
$1,000,000 bond

 

Devon O'Rourke
$350,000 bond

Mesa Police Catch Thieves in the Act

 

ATM thieves arrested by police

Three men were arrested for a variety of felony charges after police catch them in the act of stealing an ATM machine. The three men were identified as 41-year-old Patrick Intintoli, 57-year-old Mark Bryant, and 53-year-old Brian Groce.

Over the course of the last few months, dating back to November of 2021, Mesa Police have had a series of burglaries where suspect(s) were using stolen construction equipment to forcibly remove ATMs or safes from businesses. The stolen ATMs and safes were removed and later found at different locations after they had been dumped. The stolen construction equipment used in the crimes was always left at the scene. Mesa Detectives were working on at least three cases that all had similar circumstances. In one of the cases, video showed a suspect wearing black and white gloves during the commission of the crime. A single black and white glove was recovered at the crime scene next to a stolen piece of construction equipment. The glove would be the lead that eventually cracked the case. The glove was collected and analyzed for DNA. The DNA profile matched a person in the system named Patrick Intintoli. Detectives were able to get a warrant that showed Intintoli’s phone at three crime scenes, two in Mesa and one in Tempe. Through their investigation, Detectives discovered that Intintoli had also been convicted in 2006 for stealing an ATM with a forklift from a bank.

On May 5^th, 2022, officers were watching Intintoli when they saw him, Bryant, and Groce leave an address in Mesa in two separate cars. Officers followed where they witnessed the three of them steal a trailer from a parking lot and hook it up to their vehicle. They then drove to a construction site where they stole a Caterpillar tractor. All three then drove to a credit union in Pinal County where they used the tractor to remove an ATM from the ground and place it into the stolen trailer. They left the stolen tractor at the scene and returned to an address in Mesa with the stolen trailer and ATM. Groce was observed leaving the house and going to a Home Depot where he bought a saw and high-end cutting blades. When he returned to the house, he was taken into custody along with Intintoli. Bryant was arrested and taken into custody at a nearby address. The stolen trailer and ATM were both recovered.

The hard work of all our Detectives and professional staff led to the arrest of these three men and got them off the street. Mesa Police Detectives are working with several other valley police agencies with similar crimes to determine if more charges could be forthcoming.

The Mesa Police Department would like to recognize everyone involved in these arrests that resulted in solving several criminal cases. It is through their relentless professional crime fighting efforts that these suspects were caught.

 

 

Patrick Intinoli

Brian Groce

Mark Bryant