DOLAN SPRINGS – A firefighter who has relocated to Illinois can partly thank the pandemic for not being sent to jail for stealing roughly $24,000 from the Dolan Springs-based Lake Mohave Ranchos Fire District (LMRFD). Mohave County Superior Court Judge Rick Lambert ordered a one-year probation term for Phillip Picard, 32, without incarceration. Picard pleaded guilty to theft in a scheme involving collecting pay for some days and hours he did not work. Defense attorney Virginia Crews told the Court that Picard quickly and fully reimbursed the district when the compensation anomalies were discovered in early 2018, well before he was…

TOPOCK – The Mohave County sheriff’s office reports it is investigating a deliberate vehicular homicide in the Colorado River community of Topock. Agency spokeswoman Anita Mortensen said deputies responded Wednesday 1at 7:48 p.m. to a residence in the 13000 block of S. Shore Parkway. “John Michael Bondello, 49, Topock, was found to have been struck by a motor vehicle and was pronounced dead on scene,” Mortensen said. She said detectives subsequently responded to conduct the investigation. Mortensen said it was learned that Bondello had been in an argument with his friend James Richard Edwards, 50, Buckeye. “Bondello ultimately armed himself…