Most-read stories related to police, fire and emergency events:
A Maricopa couple was found deceased May 7 from what Maricopa Police Department suspects was a murder-suicide. The 69-year-old husband and the 67-year-old wife were found dead from apparent gunshot wounds after a report of gunshots heard in the area. The woman was apparently suffering from terminal cancer.
- MCSO: Fatal crash caused by passing in oncoming traffic
A fatal crash Sept. 5 on State Route 238 was likely caused by one of the vehicles trying to pass a commercial truck in the path of oncoming traffic, Maricopa County Sheriff’s officials said. The vehicles collided when both drivers made evasive maneuvers, meeting head-on on the shoulder, killing both drivers and injuring two teens in one of the vehicles.
Two teenagers died after a minivan they were riding in struck another vehicle and rolled over Oct. 29. The second vehicle allegedly ran a stop sign at the Ralston Road and Papago Road intersection when the minivan struck the car and ejected one of the teens. Five of the six passengers in the van were transported to the hospital where the 16- and 17-year-old boys, both of whom were wheelchair-bound, later died.
An area handyman accused of sex crimes involving a minor was arrested by Maricopa Police Nov. 28 for his alleged inappropriate contact with a 14-year-old child. Ronald Bragonier, 54, was arrested after the victim notified authorities of multiple incidents that occurred earlier in 2017 in multiple cities and states.
A Maricopa teen was arrested Oct. 7 on multiple charges stemming from an alleged assault he bragged about in video posted to his Facebook page. Willie Lofton, 19, allegedly started multiple fights at Copper Sky Regional Park several days before his arrest. He then went back to one of the locations of the fights and began filming blood stains on the ground and on his shoes.
Charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace were filed against two Maricopa motorists June 27 when an incident of road rage was captured on video that went viral on social media. James Kingery was filmed by another motorist allegedly punching Holden Elsea through the open window of his vehicle at an intersection on John Wayne Parkway. Elsea then reacted by striking the rear window of Kingery’s vehicle with a tire iron or similar object.
A man and a woman died as the result of a three-car collision on State Route 347 Oct. 28, just north of Riggs Road. DPS said the deceased male was driving the vehicle that struck two others stopped for a red light at Riggs Road. He was not wearing a seatbelt and suffered “major head trauma,” while a gravely injured woman was transported to Chandler Regional Hospital where she later died.
A Maricopa mother lost her four oldest children in a residential fire Nov. 21 near the city of Dixon, Illinois. The children, once residents of Maricopa, moved to Illinois to live with their father and stepmother, who also perished in the blaze. Tragically, the family also suffered a loss in 2013 when their 4-month-old son died from sudden infant death syndrome.
Three suspects were arrested for armed robbery Nov. 21 after a cellular phone stolen during the heist was tracked by law enforcement. The three allegedly approached a woman sitting in her car at the Bank of America ATM around 12:30 a.m. One suspect allegedly pointed a gun at the victim, robbing her of $260 and the phone. The trio was arrested roughly two hours later by Chandler PD.
Two men and a woman, all members of the Gila River Indian Community, were killed Nov. 29 after the vehicle they were in, heading southbound on State Route 347, crossed over the median north of Casa Blanca Road, rolled over into oncoming traffic and was struck by a semi. One other passenger in the Ford Ranger survived the crash and was transported to Chandler Regional hospital, while the driver of the semi was uninjured.
This story appears in the January issue of InMaricopa.
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