KINGMAN – A shooting occurred after two elderly Kingman residents argued and fought at the dedicated dog park at Lewis Kingman Park on Wednesday, May 1. Deputy Police Chief Joel Freed said officers responded to the park in the 2200 block of East Andy Devine Ave. at about 10:30 a.m.

Freed said it was determined that Daniel Kemple, 75, and an 82-year-old man squared off in a dispute involving dogs fighting one another.

Kemple and the victim began pushing each other with Kemple falling backwards,” said Freed.  ​“As the victim was walking away Kemple fired a single round striking the victim.”

Freed said the victim was transported to Kingman Regional Medical Center for treatment of a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Kemple was booked into the Adult Detention Center for attempted second-degree murder and other charges with non-life-threatening injuries. 

Dave Hawkins

The post Elder arrested in dog park shooting incident first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

BULLHEAD CITY – The brutal stabbing deaths of a Bullhead City couple were detailed during an April 11 sentencing hearing for the troubled defendant. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle ordered that Aaron Bryant, 31, shall serve a natural life term followed by a life prison sentence for the gruesome double homicide.

Bryant previously pleaded guilty to the first-degree murders of Tommy and Annette Hinton, who employed him at their pizza business in California years ago before providing Good Samaritan lodging for him after they retired in Bullhead City in the 3700 block of Rawhide Drive.

Mr. Hinton, 62 and his wife, 59, both died of multiple stab wounds sustained in the June 16, 2023, assault in their backyard. Their neighbor Matthew Hughes said he heard screaming before he stood on some logs to peer over the fence to witness Bryant’s arm moving back and forth as he stabbed Annette in the vicinity of a barbeque.

Hughes testified he didn’t realize Bryant was slashing the woman with a knife until he shouted for him to stop and asked what was going on.

“The defendant turned around and said ‘oh, you’re still alive,” Hughes said Bryant exclaimed. Hughes explained that he thought Bryant was advancing toward him with the knife before he saw Tommy at the base and on the other side of the wall below from his vantage point.

Hughes said Bryant repeatedly slashed and stabbed the already badly wounded Hinton as he was positioned on his hands and knees on the ground in the yard. Hughes testified he retrieved a firearm from within his residence before returning to the yard and shooting Bryant in the knee, deliberately wounding without killing him.

The 911 call his daughter made to police was played during the sentencing hearing. She told police dispatch that her armed father was confronting the assailant.

“My dad’s out there with a gun right now,” the teenager shrieked into the emergency phone communication. “He just shot him.”

“He (Bryant) staggered back and fell to the ground,” Hughes told the court, indicating that the defendant was still clutching the knife.

Bullhead City Police detective Angel Gomez testified Annette was still alive but badly wounded when he arrived on scene and that she was fully aware her husband was dying or dead, and that she too, was in bad shape.

“Stay with me. Continue talking to me,” Gomez instructed Annette, urging her to fight for life, while informing fellow officers her condition was precarious. “She’s fading on me guys.”

Gomez said Annette indicated that Bryant was trying to set some oxygen tanks on fire in the yard when Tommy challenged and tried to stop him before the defendant retrieved a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her husband, and then her, when she interceded.

Defense attorney Paul Amann used letters from family members, supplemented by argument, that Bryant suffered from schizophrenia, exacerbated by his decision to quit taking prescribed medicine to treat the condition. A letter from his mother indicated that she expressed concern about her son not taking his meds when he was still residing in California, but that Fortuna police said they could do nothing because he broke no law. 

Amann said Bryant was prone to auditory hallucinations when off his meds, perceiving instructions and directives from Satan and others.

Hinton family members spoke of their loss and grief.

“Nothing has been okay since he (Bryant) took my parents from me,” one daughter said. “My whole world has come crashing down on me.”

The Bullhead City police department presented Hughes with a Citizens Medal of Valor for his courage and bravery in defense of the Hintons.

Dave Hawkins

The post Life sentence for brutal stabbing of retired couple first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

BEAVER DAM – A 9-year-old boy was arrested after threatening to shoot up his elementary school in the north Mohave County community of Beaver Dam. The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) began investigating Tuesday, April 16 after learning a juvenile posted the threat to social media.

MCSO spokeswoman Anita Mortensen said deputies identified and questioned the responsible party. She said the boy admitted posting the threat, but explained he did so on a dare by another youth and asserted he had no intention of harming anyone.

“Although this threat appears to be an isolated incident, additional security measures and law enforcement presence were scheduled for area schools,” Mortensen said. “The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office takes a zero-tolerance stance toward any person that makes a threat towards our schools or the disruption of an educational institution.

Mortensen said the boy was booked into the Juvenile Detention Center in Kingman on a charge of making a terrorist threat.

Dave Hawkins

The post Nine-year-old threatens to shoot up school first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

KINGMAN – Investigation of a traffic accident that claimed the life of a local teenager late last year has led to the arrest of a young Kingman man. Deputy Police Chief Joel Freed said Dalin Penrod, 20, was booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility on April 11 on a charge of causing death by moving violation.

Lacey Lynn Gale, 19, Kingman, was fatally injured when her vehicle was struck by Penrod’s vehicle at about 8:10 p.m. on Dec. 13.

Freed said Gale was at Kino Ave. and turning left to proceed northbound on Stockton Hill Road when her SUV was struck by the southbound vehicle driven by Penrod that did not stop for the red light at the well-traveled intersection by Starbucks.

Gale died following transport to Kingman Regional Medical Center. Penrod was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Dave Hawkins

The post Arrest made in fatal traffic crash first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

LAKE HAVASU CITY – Lake Havasu City police are trying to determine why an elderly local resident led police on a dangerous pursuit last weekend. Authorities said a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox disregarded traffic control devices as it sped past officers who were blocking an intersection for the Lake Havasu Triathlon at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, March 17.

Sergeant Kyle Ridgway said three bicyclists were nearly struck before a traffic stop was conducted in the 200 block of London Bridge Road.

“The driver of the vehicle then intentionally accelerated and struck the officer’s vehicle before fleeing the traffic stop,” Ridgway said. He said a subsequent police pursuit ended when 90-year-old John Welcher lost control of the Equinox and collided with two other vehicles.

“Welcher sustained minor injuries from the collision and was transported to Havasu Regional Medical Center for evaluation prior to being booked into the Mohave County Detention Center,” Ridgway said. “There were no reported injuries to officers or occupants of the other vehicles.”

Welcher faces five aggravated assault counts, three counts of criminal damage, two counts of endangerment and unlawful flight.

The post Elder leads police on chase first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

KINGMAN – A Lake Havasu City man’s future with his young son is uncertain following his Friday sentencing at the Law and Justice Center in Kingman. A residential “nanny-cam” captured an incident during which Fabrizzio Dransfield, 31, slammed his one-year-old son to a couch in the 1700 block of Willow Ave. on Dec. 22, 2023.

The violence reportedly occurred when Dransfield was frustrated the baby boy would not stop crying.

Dransfield is convicted of aggravated assault in a plea deal dismissing a child abuse count.

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen imposed a six-month county jail sentence, crediting Dransfield with 75 days already spent in custody. He also ordered the defendant to serve three year’s probation, along with mandatory parental training and anger management classes.

It was noted that the victim is in the care and custody of his mother and that any Dransfield contact with his son will be up to her consent, and future determinations by Probation and Family Court.

The post Dransfield gets six months in baby abuse case first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

KINGMAN – It appears the community of Kingman may be spared from the heartache and drama of trial for a local teenager charged in the deaths and injuries of fellow student athletes from Lee Williams High School. Attorneys have apparently reached a plea agreement that will resolve the criminal case against Brady Shuffler, 16.

Terms of the proposed agreement won’t be made public until they are unveiled during the 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 9 hearing before Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle.

Previous legal proceedings revealed that Shuffler rejected the first two plea offers from the state. One involved a stipulated 16-year prison sentence while the other would have allowed Judge Carlisle to sort through a punishment range of 14-24 years.

While specifics are unknown, the likelihood is that the proposed deal for Shuffler involves some amount of prison time.

Shuffler is charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the April 13, 2023 deaths of Tatum Meins, 17, and Sherene “Siri” Walema, 15. There are aggravated assault charges associated with two male teens who suffered serious injuries but survived the high-speed crash.

Authorities have alleged marijuana was detected in his blood stream and that Shuffler was speeding in excess of 100 miles per hour when he lost control of the Dodge Charger he was driving that rolled north of the intersection of Louise Ave. and N. Sage St.

The post Shuffler plea deal imminent first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

BULLHEAD CITY – A Bullhead City woman will go to the Arizona Department of Corrections after pleading guilty in a fatal traffic accident. Deputy Mohave County Attorney Jacob Cote said 51-year-old Lidia Tapia was intoxicated by alcohol and had methamphetamine in her system when the Camry she was operating rear-ended a Ford Expedition on Highway 68 in Golden Valley in Oct., 2022.

The driver of the other vehicle, Michael Bunes, 51, Golden Valley, was dead at the scene of the accident. Three passengers in the Expedition and Tapia were treated for injuries at Kingman Regional Medical Center.

Aggravated assault, criminal damage and DUI charges are dismissed in the plea deal. An unrelated criminal case is also dismissed in exchange for a manslaughter conviction.

Punishment is stipulated at 15 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled Feb. 26th before Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen.

The post 15 years for traffic fatal first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

KINGMAN – A Kingman woman was killed Friday, Jan. 26 when the vehicle she was operating was struck by another vehicle that was reportedly fleeing pursuing law enforcement officers.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) said Sarah Bingham, 21, was fatally injured in the collision at the intersection of North Bank St. and Northern Ave. The suspect later identified as Juan Ortiz, 44, was taken into custody.

DPS said State Gang Task Force members first attempted to contact Ortiz in his vehicle parked at a car wash on East Airway Ave at about 8:13 p.m.

“As detectives approached the suspect vehicle, the suspect rammed two detective vehicles, at which point a trooper-involved shooting occurred,” a DPS news release said. It said no law enforcement personnel were hurt but that Ortiz suffered minor injuries.

Ortiz is held in the Mohave County Adult Detention Center for first degree murder, aggravated assault and other charges.

The incident is under investigation by the AZDPS Major Incident Division.

The post Woman killed by fleeing suspect first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

A man allegedly hauling drugs across Interstate 40 reportedly blew through the Inspection Station at the California border, resulting in a traffic stop and drug bust inside Arizona. Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) spokeswoman Anita Mortensen said MAGNET task force detectives were summoned following the Thursday, March 17 traffic stop about 65 miles west of Kingman.

Mortensen said ADOT requested use of an MCSO K9 to assist with inspection of the commercial vehicle pulled over at mile post 3.

“During the inspection, K9 Grimm alerted to the presence of narcotics inside the tractor,” she said. “Officers searched the commercial vehicle and located duffel bags that contained several bundles of a substance that tested positive for cocaine.”

Mortensen said the 143 pounds of seized cocaine has a $2-million street value. Angel Martinez-Santana, 42, Dominican Republic, was arrested and jailed on drug charges. The investigation continues.

Dave Hawkins

The post 143 pounds of cocaine seized during traffic stop first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.