Couple faces 36 years after botched trip to grandma’s

Two lovebirds ended up jailbirds after a trip to grandma’s house turned violent Monday afternoon. 

Cops arrested 31-year-olds Jazmyne Handy-Johnson and Mark A. Phillips after they reportedly brought meth to a child visit, resisted arrest and damaged a police cruiser. 

Officers responded to a disturbance call just after 4 p.m. at home on West Askew Drive in Villages at Rancho El Dorado, according to the probable cause statement. 

Handy-Johnson was visiting her children, who live with their grandmother. Police did not specify Phillips’ relationship to the kids. 

The couple allegedly trashed the home and refused to leave. 

Officers heard “loud arguing and commotion” coming from a bedroom and headed inside to investigate. They found Phillips sweating profusely, holding a duffel bag containing a meth pipe and in a hurry to catch a taxi waiting outside. 

Cops tried to stop Phillips, whose feeble attempt at escape ended with him being tackled to the ground and forced into a spit shield. He has a history of spitting, according to court records. 

Handy-Johnson tried to sneak away but got tackled, too, according to the probable cause statement. Phillips lobbed threats at the officers and damaged the police cruiser’s door. 

During a search of the couple, police found three meth pipes and a baggie of meth in Handy-Johnson’s possession, and a meth pipe in Phillips’ duffle bag. 

Handy-Johnson was booked into the Pinal County jail on charges of resisting arrest, possessing dangerous drugs and paraphernalia, first-degree criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. She faces more than 26 years in prison. 

Phillips was booked on counts of criminal damage, resisting arrest, possessing drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct. He faces nearly a decade in prison.