Police downplay violence in Maricopa streets

When a group of teenagers ganged up on another late last week causing head injuries by hitting and kicking him in the face, Maricopa Police said it was an isolated incident, and that reports of local street fights are rare.

Four days later, it appears that another street fight – this time with knives – might have left several teenagers with stab wounds including at least one whose injuries are believed to have caused his death (see “City mum on alleged Maricopa Meadows murder”).

On Friday, Sergeant Stephen Judd of Maricopa Police responded to questions regarding an adult’s eye-witness account of three of four teens repeatedly kicking and hitting another teen at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday on John Wayne Parkway near Sun Life Health Center. Two other teens with the one being attacked stood by and watched.

“What was upsetting was so many cars ahead of me passed and saw it,” said Larry Salazar, who was on his way to a soccer practice for one of his two children.

“The fight broke up when I blew my horn,” he said. “I was pretty surprised no one else did. I am pretty sure other people saw it and didn’t do anything.”

Salazar said he pulled over to help.

“He had big bruises on his face where he was kicked and punched,” Salazar said, adding that he was unsure of the extent of the teen’s injuries. “He was up and walking around, but obviously he was stunned. He was in a bad situation, and I felt really bad for the kids at the time.”

Judd said the responding officers did not consider the incident exceptional, a designation generally reserved for events deemed to be out of the ordinary. At the same time, Judd said it’s not something Maricopa Police generally see.

“It appears to be a fairly isolated incident,” he said.

Police are investigating the incident. The so-called victim, however, has not been cooperative and did not provide much information. Without details about what led up to the “physical altercation,” Judd said the incident had to be classified as a “mutual combat situation.”

“At this point, no one is even seeking criminal charges that we have been made aware of,” Judd said. “We don’t know that a crime has occurred.”

Early Monday, according to several anonymous residents of Maricopa Meadows who have not yet come forward to provide information on the record, a violent street fight broke out in their neighborhood at 3 a.m. Two helicopters are believed to have taken stabbing victims to Maricopa County Hospital’s level 1 trauma center in Phoenix.

This time, however, the city isn’t talking. Numerous phone calls and an email send to Judd beginning early Monday have been left unreturned as of noon Tuesday.

Information on the incidents will be published as it becomes available.

Submitted photo