Mesa Police Seize Illegal Fireworks from Two Mesa Locations

Over the past two weeks the Mesa Police Department, with assistance from the Mesa Fire/Medical Department, has seized large quantities of prohibited fireworks from two different locations in Mesa.

One of the seizures occurred in the area of 1200 N. Mesa Dr. in Mesa on 6-29-22. This investigation involved not only seizing large quantities of prohibited fireworks, but also led to the arrest of a suspect with a violent criminal history. This investigation began when a detective located an on-line add reference the sale of prohibited fireworks in Mesa. Detectives were able to purchase the illegal fireworks and later served a search warrant seizing 1665 packages of fireworks valued at $7,755.00 and two AR-15 rifles. The suspect, 40-year-old George Baber, was booked on Misconduct Involving Weapons/Prohibited Possessor and misdemeanor charges related to fireworks violations will be filed through the Mesa City Court.

The other seizure occurred at a Liquor/Smoke Shop located in the area of 300 W. Brown in Mesa. After receiving an anonymous tip of the store selling illegal fireworks Mesa Police Detectives opened an investigation. During the course of this investigation undercover detectives entered the store and visually saw the illegal fireworks on display and were able to purchase them from store employees. After the purchase was made a search warrant was executed on the store on 6-24-22. During the search warrant 129 prohibited fireworks with a total value of $4,052.00 were seized. There are pending criminal charges on the store owner. The Mesa Fire/Medical Department assisted in the safe storage of the seized fireworks after they were seized.

1200 N Mesa Drive

300 W. Brown

The Mesa Police Department is fully committed to the enforcement of firework laws, both the use and sale of prohibited fireworks. The use of prohibited fireworks is not only illegal but is extremely dangerous. They create a fire hazard as well as an injury hazard. The Mesa Police Department will be out in force on the 4th of July enforcing fireworks laws.

For more information on what is legal and not legal when it comes to fireworks in Mesa, please go to https://fire.mesaaz.gov/community-outreach/fireworks for further information. If you have any information reference illegal firework sales or illegal firework use, please call the Mesa Police Department at 480-644-2211.

Circle K Armed Robbery Suspects Arrested

On June 17, 2022, members of the Mesa Police Department's Major Crimes Unit in conjunction with members of the Arizona WANTED Task Force arrested 49-year-old Brandie Walker and her boyfriend, 48-year-old Johnathan Roy, for three counts of Armed Robbery after they robbed three separate Circle K convenient stores with a weapon.

The crime spree started on May 14, 2022, around 9:00 p.m., when a woman put on a black wig and entered the Circle K located at 2005 W. Broadway Mesa, AZ with a handgun. The victim told Mesa Police Officers that the woman demanded money from the cash register while displaying a gun. After providing money to the woman, the victim jumped over the counter and disarmed her. The woman ran from the store, leaving her loaded handgun in the hands of the victim, who then gave it to police.

On May 19, 2022, at 4:45 a.m., officers were sent to another armed robbery at a Circle K located at 1959 S. Greenfield. The victim told officers that a man wearing a gray wig came into the store with a handgun and demanded money from the cash register. The man had a distinct tattoo on his right arm and wore easily recognizable clothing.

The third and final armed robbery occurred on June 12, 2022, just after 1:00 a.m. The Circle K at 1557 S. Val Vista was robbed by a woman wearing a brown wig armed with a handgun. This time, the woman left the scene in a vehicle driven by a man. Officers were able to retrieve the vehicle license plate number through Circle K video surveillance.

The Arizona WANTED Task Force located the vehicle at a hotel near Country Club Dr/ Hampton and eventually took Walker and Roy into custody. A search warrant was written and served on the vehicle and hotel room, allowing officers to collect evidence of the crime, to include a black BB gun and a black wig.

Brandie Walker was booked into jail for the following charges and held on a $40,500 bond:

(3 counts) ARS 13-1904A2; Armed Robbery, a class 2 felony  

1 Mesa City Warrant

1 Phoenix City Warrant

Brandie Walker Mug Shot

Johnathan Roy was booked into jail for the following charges and held on a $50,000 bond:

(3 counts) ARS 13-1904A2; Armed Robbery, a class 2 felony

Johnathan Roy Mug Shot

Drive By Shooter Arrested

On May 15, 2022, just after midnight, Mesa Police Officers were dispatched to the area of 400 South Stewart for reports of gunshots. When officers arrived, they located approximately 98 spent rounds scattered on south Stewart to west Vine Ave (approximately ¼ mile.) Of the 98 spent rounds, officers discovered several different types: 9mm, .40 caliber, and .223/ 5.56 assault rifle casings. 

Officers located a victim, who had been hosting a party on Stewart, and learned that 21-year-old Jorge de Jesus Rubio had tried to attend the party but was denied access due to his behavior at a prior party held in March. The victim told officers that Jorge was armed with a handgun and that another man with him had an assault rifle. After being told to leave, Jorge and the other subjects walked back to their vehicle.

A witness told officers they watched gunfire come from the vehicle as it drove away south on Stewart and then west on Vine Ave.

The victim later found two bullet holes on their house and one on a family member’s vehicle. At the time of the shooting, the house was occupied by several people, to include children.

On May 24, 2022, Phoenix Police Officers stopped Jorge after reports of him entering an intersection and doing “donuts” with his vehicle. During their investigation, officers located an empty gun case, a loaded black handgun, and an unknown amount of ammunition. The vehicle was towed.

On May 25, 2022, Mesa Police Officers wrote and served a search warrant for access to Jorge’s vehicle. Two boxes of different brands of 9mm ammunition, a 22 round magazine containing two .40 caliber rounds, loose 9mm ammunition, and an empty Glock gun box were seized. 

On June 8, 2022, Jorge was arrested. He was booked into jail for the following charges and held on a $250,000 bond:

ARS 13-1209.A; Drive by Shooting, a class 2 felony

ARS 13-1211.A; Discharging a Firearm at an Occupied Structure, a class 2 felony

ARS 12-3102.A.4; Prohibited Possessor, a class 4 felony

Jorge de Jesus Rubio Mug Shot

GILA MONSTER RESCUED DURING DUI INVESTIGATION

On June 5, 2022, around 11:25 p.m., Mesa Police Officers responded to a convenient store parking lot in the 1100 block of S. Signal Butte for a male subject, later identified as 37-year-old Brandon Denney, sleeping behind the wheel of a running vehicle. The caller described Denney as “nodding off” and said he would mumble and shout. 

When officers arrived, they found Denney still sleeping with an orange pill bottle in his hand. Officers woke Denney up and saw that his eyes were red, and pupils constricted. Denney agreed to do field sobriety tests.

While completing the field sobriety tests, officers noticed a Gila Monster poking his head out of a box in Denney’s vehicle. Denney said he had run the Gila Monster over with his vehicle and decided to pick it up after seeing it was injured.  

Ultimately, Denney was taken into custody for driving under the influence. During an inventory search of his vehicle, officers found cocaine, methamphetamine, a fentanyl pill, and several items of drug paraphernalia.

Officers also discovered that Denney had three felony warrants for his arrest; two from California, both for Kidnapping with bonds of $1,050,000 and $300,000 and the third warrant was from Nevada for Attempted Grand Larceny of a Motor Vehicle for $50,000.

The Gila Monster was turned over to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The AZGFD opened their own investigation and will be charging Denney appropriately (it is illegal to own or sell a Gila Monster in Arizona without a permit). Unlike Denney’s story, the Gila Monster did not appear to be run over and had no visible injuries.

Gila Monster

Brandon Denney

Memorial Day DUI Checkpoint Results

 

Memorial Day DUI Checkpoint Results

On Monday, May 30, 2022, after a 2-year break due to COVID, the Mesa Police Department hosted the Memorial Day DUI Checkpoint. The checkpoint was operated from 1 pm to 5 pm in the area of Power and Thomas Roads in Mesa.  A total of 10 police agencies, in collaboration with the Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety, from across the Valley participated including, Mesa PD, AZ DPS, Gilbert PD, Tempe PD, Scottsdale PD, Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, Apache Junction PD, ASU PD, Queen Creek PD, and the Arizona State Liquor Board.  Just over 1,400 vehicles came through the checkpoint, with 44 drivers being pulled for field sobriety testing.  A total of 22 DUI arrests were made during this 4-hour window.

Mesa Police Commander Chris Rash shared a reminder to the community, “The most important impact of this event is what cannot be quantified, the fatal and serious injury accidents that were averted and the subsequent pain and suffering that otherwise may have occurred had it not been for the efforts to get these 22 impaired drivers off the road.”

With that said the Mesa Police Department would like to express their sincere appreciation to the partnering police agencies that assisted with this event.  Without their assistance this event would not have been as successful as it was.