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July 2024
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Captain Belinda Morales
Operations Division East
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Violent Barricade Case Resolved
On June 2, 2024, Operations Division East (ODE) officers responded to a Domestic Violence Brewing call in the 5600 block of East 30th Street. The suspect was outside his sister’s house where his mother was staying, brandishing a roto tiller and screaming for money. Just before, in Operations Division Midtown, he had charged at two strangers with a roto tiller and threatened to kill them. Those victims were able to use bear spray to keep the suspect away and he left in a vehicle, eventually arriving at the 5600 block address.
As ODE officers contacted the suspect in front of the residence, he was still brandishing the roto tiller and would not drop it. Pepperball was deployed but was ineffective, so a 40mm (another less-lethal tool) was deployed but was ineffective. The suspect smashed the front window to the residence with the roto tiller, climbed inside and confronted his mother and sister. He chased the sister around, swinging the roto tiller at her and yelling that he was going to kill her. The mother and sister made it out of the house and the suspect barricaded inside. TPD officers set containment with lethal, less-lethal, and K9. Hostage Negotiators responded and began trying to speak with the suspect via LRAD (Long-Range Acoustic Device) and telephone, but he was mostly nonresponsive. At one point, he indicated he wanted to go “mano y mano” with TPD S.W.A.T.
It was discovered that the suspect had assaulted his mother at a different address in the last week, and that an Order of Protection needed to be served on him, due to his behavior with his mother and other family members. The suspect was also a registered sex offender and had a Mental Health Revocation Order, was supposed to be taking antipsychotics, but was believed to be on a “meth bender.”
S.W.A.T. was called out due to the charges the suspect was facing, his extreme propensity for unpredictable violence, and his access to a vehicle. Pepperball and CS Gas were utilized to agitate the suspect, who emerged from the back door, roto tiller in hand. He was struck with an Arwen round (another less-lethal tool) and bitten by the K9. S.W.A.T. then took him into custody. He was medically cleared and then booked into the Pima County Jail on the following charges:
Felony Endangerment x2, Domestic Violence Disorderly Conduct x2, Domestic Violence Aggravated Assault x1, Burglary x1, Domestic Violence Criminal Damage, and Domestic Violence Aggravated Harassment x1. He will also be taken for a mental health petition after dealing with the charges he accrued in this incident.
Stolen Rodeo Belt Buckles Returned
 Following up on a burglary that took place on June 9, 2024, Detective Tristan Pittenridge of the Robbery Assault Unit, along with ODE’s Bike Unit Sergeant Brad Pelton, Lead Police Officer Matthew Timpf, and Officers Aaron Brown, Randall Engler, and James Voss, met the victim at Pima and Wilmot/Tanque Verde to return some of his prized rodeo belt buckles. The gentleman relayed that he is quite fond of these buckles – earned since the age of 68! – proof “that an 'old guy' can still compete." He added, "These officers were so polite and professional, I was really impressed. They all looked sharp, on the ball, and ready to help those in need and dissuade those with bad intentions.” We were only too happy to help!
ODE Statistics
Activity
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Type
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2024 Division Year to Date
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2024 Department Year to Date
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Calls for Service
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15,402
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68,194
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Officer-initiated Activity
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2,138
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17,427
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Gun-related Crime
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11
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99
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Homicide
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6
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30
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Traffic Citations
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1,410
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22,610
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Staffing
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Type
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2024 Division Year to Date
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2024 Department Year to Date
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Sworn Members
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105
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812
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Community Service Officers
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31
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153
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Professional Staff
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4
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246
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ODE in the Community
Captain Belinda Morales, Community Service Officer Teresa Hayward, and Service Dog Unit K-9 Handler Officer Anthony Gutierrez with K-9 Helio attended the Tucson Society of the Blind meeting on June 4th to introduce themselves and discuss crime safety tips, especially pertaining to scam calls, emails, and how to prevent becoming victims of fraud.
 On June 19th, ODE Sergeants, Officers, Community Service Officers, and command staff met with ODE Community Members at Dorado Country Club Golf Course for Coffee with a Cop. This is a great way to interact with our community and foster positive relationships.
 ODE Officers James Voss, Edmund Schwenn, and Andrew Fedor responded to St. Michael’s School (SMS) and received praise from an SMS supervisor: “Recently, three officers of Tucson Police Department came to our school during our lunch recesses and treated all of our students to an excellent presentation and demonstration of police vehicles, equipment, and a lot of questions and answers about police work. These officers, led by J. Voss of TPD, were friendly, engaging, enthusiastic and fun. The kids loved it! Thank you to TPD and those wonderful officers for this excellent community outreach. They may have inspired some future career law enforcement candidates.” Thank you! We love spending time with local kids.
Member Highlight
This month’s officer highlight goes out to LPO (Lead Police Officer) Arturo Ramos.
July marks 11 years of service for Art with the Tucson Police Department. Art is a reliable resource and mentor for officers and CSOs alike. When not on calls, he follows up on investigations, monitors calls for service, and fields phone calls from officers. There is no investigation too big, small, glamorous, or horrendous, where he won’t see it through to the end. Yet no matter how busy he is, Art will stop what he is doing to help those around him. This speaks to his character more than his rank.
After 11 years, Art is still genuinely happy, comes to work in a positive mood, and finds ways to encourage others and increase camaraderie. Keep up the good work!
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Crime Prevention Tip
If someone asks you to pay them with a gift card or gift cards, hang up, disengage - it's a scam.
Scammers are very good at pressuring people to take action before they've had a chance to think. Later, when they realize they may have made a mistake, they're often at a loss what to do.
Even if you've already given the scammer the number on the back of the card, if you act immediately, you may be able to cut down on your losses. The Federal Trade Commission has a list of contacts for gift card companies. Call them, even if the scam took place a while ago, report it, and ask for your money back. You might get lucky. Remember this option, if you hear of a friend or relative who's made this mistake.
Your first line of defense remains: never, ever, comply with anyone's demand that you pay them with gift cards.
Photo credit: dennizn - stock.adobe.com
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