CAREFREE TRUTH
Carefree Truth #377
Carefree Truth
Issue #377, February 19, 2015
As I was coming home this afternoon at around 2:30 PM, Stagecoach Pass off of Cave Creek Road was barricaded, with police everywhere. A deputy approached me to say I couldn't pass. I told him that I am on the Sentinel Rock HOA board, am the community liaison, and that everyone would be contacting me to find out what is happening. All he could tell me at that time was that there was a suspect holed up in the house on the corner of 58th Street and Stagecoach Pass. The homeowners live in Oklahoma. This is a second home for them. There were helicopters overhead, and numerous MCSO vehicles at the scene, complete with deputies with assault rifles.
I called the homeowners. Nina is a friend of mine, and I wanted to make sure they were not in a hostage situation. They were in OK, and were shocked to hear that their house was under siege.
The police and helicopters dispersed a little after 5 PM. Detective Lee Anderson called me this evening with information on the stand-off at the house. 3 suspects were arrested. They had apparently been squatting there. One of them is the son of a man who had done some work for the homeowners, which is how the 3 young men knew the house was empty, and how they gained entry. Detective Anderson said the house was not trashed, and it appeared that only some tools from the garage had been stolen previous to the squatters being discovered. Two of the suspects were arrested at the beginning. The third was the one involved in the stand-off that brought out the full compliment of law enforcement strength.
I kept our development informed via email as I got information, and I was back and forth on the phone with the owner of the home. It was certainly an exciting scene this afternoon. Along with the regular MCSO deputies, there was a K-9 unit, a SWAT team, and a Rural/Metro fire truck, as well as a remote control unit with a camera. The helicopters were from MCSO and channel 15 ABC news. One of our neighbors emailed me with the link to the news report.
Herbert got home from work while it was all still in progress, and he took some shots from our front porch of the parts he could see from our house, using a 300mm lens with a 2 times extender. Detective Anderson asked me to send them to him, saying the police would enjoy having them to hang on the wall in the office.
Photos by Herbert Hitchon
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
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