Teen drug dealer nabbed in shooting probe: Cops

Maricopa Police Department submitted charges this week against a teen tied to a shooting in Tortosa last year. 

This follows a year-long investigation of 19-year-old Adrian Lopez-Garcia’s Snapchat and CashApp accounts, according to police reports. 

Lopez-Garcia faces charges of narcotics for sale, possessing a stolen firearm, possessing a deadly weapon underage, marijuana for sale and possessing drug paraphernalia. He was arrested on John Wayne Parkway and booked into jail Sunday. 

‘Shots fired’ 

On the morning of March 9, 2023, cops responded to multiple reports of shots fired near North Toledo Avenue and West Nina Street in Tortosa. 

Officers on the scene spoke to several witnesses who heard gunshots and confirmed shots were fired. No one was injured, but bullet holes were found peppering a house on that street. 

One witness saw two people run into a nearby home, according to the police report. Backyard security camera footage from a neighbor corroborated this. The homeowner allowed a search of the home, but no one was found. 

Minutes after the shooting, the same footage showed a red Dodge Charger pull up to the house and what appeared to be a drug deal. 

A traffic camera at Honeycutt and North Hartman Roads snapped a picture of a matching Charger, and its license plate, leaving the area just after the shots were fired. 

Potholder 

Less than a day after the shooting, MPD Sgt. John Soanes and Officer Fredrick Kiefer pulled over the Charger near North Butterfield Parkway and North Alex Drive. 

Lopez-Garcia was driving. He was removed from the car and searched. 

Lopez-Garcia admitted he was in Tortosa at the time of the shooting. He said he was there to give his friend a cell phone charger. He couldn’t come up with his friend’s name. 

He denied being involved in the shooting and said the car was his dad’s. He refused a search of the vehicle. 

Police noted Lopez-Garcia had a large wad of cash in his wallet but couldn’t answer where he got it. The teen didn’t have a driver’s license, so cops impounded the car. 

Officers got a warrant to search the car and found a stolen 9-millimeter pistol in the glovebox and four “marijuana cigarettes” in the center console.  

Detective Adam Hill found $5,600 worth of marijuana products in the car, including THC vape cartridges, THC edibles and joints. They also found nicotine vapes, which are prohibited for people under age 21. 

Cell warrants 

In late March last year, police were granted search warrants for Lopez-Garcia’s cell phone. 

Hill found several photos and videos showing “large quantities” of marijuana and cash stored on the phone. 

Snapchat conversations showed many people asking Lopez-Garcia about the products found in his vehicle, like how much they cost and where they could meet. 

One message asked Lopez-Garcia if he was “mobile,” to which he responded “yeah lmk [let me know] what you need plus addy [address].” 

The messenger, who police did not name, asked for a 1-gram THC cartridge and sent an address to a home on West Long Way in the Maricopa Meadows, ending with “what’s your cashapp gang.” 

Dozens of other conversations showed planned sales, flavors of vape cartridges, marijuana strains and locations to meet. 

Police also searched Lopez-Garcia’s CashApp data, where they found 147 payments from Feb. 10 through May 4, 2023, most between $5 and $50 each. 

All details in this story are attributable to a Maricopa Police Department report.