KINGMAN – The suspect in a near two-year-old double homicide outside Kingman faces a May 16 initial court appearance before Judge Doug Camacho at the Mohave County Law and Justice Center.

Daniel Matthew Avila, 26, El Mirage, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the June 27, 2022 shooting deaths of Retta Atkins, 73, and her husband Darren VanHouten, 50. Authorities allege a video surveillance system reveals Avila outside before breaking in and shooting the couple to death in their home in the 9200 block of Dilligaf Road.

Avila previously pleaded guilty in a Tempe burglary case and was given a 2.5-year prison sentence. He was recently extradited back to Kingman to stand trial in Mohave County.

Deputy Mohave County Attorney Jacob Cote is the prosecutor assigned to the case. Cote said Avila will be assigned legal counsel after the initial court appearance if he does not secure private counsel himself.

Dave Hawkins

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BULLHEAD CITY – Cinco De Mayo 2024 last Sunday brought a celebration of Mexican cuisine to Hardeyville Tavern in Bullhead City where Da Taco Joint and Loaded and Baked sponsored a Cinco celebration involving the Tri-City’s best taco vendors all in one location. A couple hundred people showed up to sample some of the best tacos to be found in the region and listen to some live music, bash a pinata and generally enjoy the annual day that celebrates a military victory over France in Puebla Mexico inn 1862. The date is often mistaken for Mexican Independence Day which is actually September 16th. Cinco De Mayo is more celebrated in America than it is in Mexico where it is not a national holiday contrary to popular opinion. 

Regardless, the crowds certainly enjoyed the event with classic cars and bikes on display, Mariachi music, DJ Loke Lau, and lots and lots of Tacos as provided by Da Taco Joint, Tacos El Peloni, El Chaparro, Whiskey River Baked Goods and Bullhead City Corn Man among the participants. 

Kane Wickham

The post Cinco De Mayo observed first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

KINGMAN – A state trooper said his life is forever changed by getting run down by a vehicle driven by a serial fugitive. Trooper August Romanski recounted the traumatic encounter at Michael Malerba’s May 3 sentencing hearing.

Malerba had allegedly fled three previous law enforcement pursuits that were terminated in the interest of public safety and he was a wanted man when authorities tracked him to a fast-food establishment in Kingman on April 21, 2023. Deputy Mohave County Attorney Amanda Claerhout said troopers decided to trail Malerba, 55, into the Hualapai Mountains where he lived with his mother, hoping to achieve a peaceful arrest.

Claerhout said troopers eventually boxed in Malerba’s vehicle near his mother’s home and that Malerba was directed to exit the vehicle at gunpoint.

Trooper Romanski said Malerba at first raised his hands before abruptly opting for aggression.

“He made a decision to put his hands back on the wheel and accelerated toward me,” Romanski told Judge Doug Camacho. “I remember it clearly, as if it was slow motion.”

Romanski said it felt like his life was over when he was struck and knocked to the pavement. He said he struggled to his vehicle and used it to ram and disable the Malerba rig as it circled back toward him.

Troopers arrested Malerba after a brief foot chase.

“I will never forget that day for the rest of my life,” Romanski said. He said the incident resulted in loss of appetite, sleepless nights, nightmares, frustration, anger and mental health counseling.

“I am making progress but I feel I will never be the same,” Romanski said.

A trial jury convicted Malerba of aggravated assault, two counts of endangerment, unlawful flight and criminal damage. Judge Camacho ordered a 20-year prison term.

Malerba still awaits prosecution for the initial trio of alleged unlawful flight cases. Attorneys are trying to resolve those by plea agreement. Dave Hawkins

The post 20 years for man who ran down officer first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

MOHAVE COUNTY –  The State of Arizona is on the clock to respond to a legal brief formally requesting reversal of the Dec., 2022 protective designation of the Hualapai Ground Water Basin as an Irrigation Non-Expansion Area (INA).

The pleading filed April 15 by Tucson-based Hofmeyr Law requests that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Mikitish direct the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to overturn former Director Tom Buschatzke’s Findings, Decision and Final Order that granted Mohave County’s request to designate the INA to prohibit additional groundwater use by expanded agriculture production north of Kingman.

On behalf of agriculture interests, plaintiff attorney Adriane Hofmeyr asserts that the County and City of Kingman were concerned they “might run out of water” for residential, domestic and industrial use and unfairly singled out, and targeted farming consumption to manage the resource.

“Not wanting to limit their own water use, they sought to limit agriculture use only,” Hofmeyr’s briefing said. 

The pleading argues that the INA designation was predicated upon erroneous conclusion that the groundwater basin is in significant decline. It contends the finding is faulted by use of modeling data and projected future water use and decline based on history and trends, rather any reliable and certain scientific measurement.

“The Final Order fails to include any data to support groundwater level decline,” the briefing said. “On the contrary, the record shows that groundwater levels are not substantially declining, particularly in the Hualapai subbasin.”

Hofmeyr argues the Buschatzke and ADWR designation of the INA is an abuse of discretion. It asks for Court order reversing the designation, or excluding the Hualapai subbasin from the INA boundary upon belief water is far more abundant there than the lower basin closer to Kingman.

The ADWR has not yet responded to the plaintiff brief, and has until May 15 to do so and argue its case. The reply would likely make some use of previously introduced figures reflecting enormous increases of irrigation and water consumption that fed expanding agricultural operations north of Kingman over the decade preceding implementation of the INA.

Supervisor Travis Lingenfelter applauded Buschatzke and the ADWR for the designation in late 2022.

“Four times more water is coming out of our aquifer than is going in each year,” Lingenfelter said in a county news release. “These rapidly declining groundwater levels pose a threat to public health and the safe supply of groundwater for over 70,000 rural Arizonans.”

Lingenfelter is asking for an INA-related staff report at Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Backup for the item indicates entities withdrawing groundwater from non-exempt wells within the INA were required to final water withdrawal and usage reports with the ADWR, and that the first annual report was due by the end of March, roughly five weeks ago.

That data could be illuminating and helpful, both in the legal arena and court of public opinion.

Once defense counsel replies to the plaintiff brief on behalf of the ADWR, additional attorney back and forth would occur in ongoing pleadings before the dispute could someday result in a civil trial.

Dave Hawkins

The post INA challenge ongoing; possible civil suit looms first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

MOHAVE COUNTY – Six arrests are reported in the culmination of a four-month long investigation of illegal drug dealing in the communities of Dolan Springs, Meadview and Kingman. Personnel from local law enforcement agencies assigned to the MAGNET narcotic task force reportedly identified Wsbaldo Lazarit, 36, Dolan Springs as a source of fentanyl distribution early this year.

“Detectives learned that Lazarit and his co-conspirators were responsible for stealing at least two Hyundai vehicles from Kingman,” said Mohave County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Anita Mortensen. She said public safety concerns saw authorities terminate an April 11 pursuit of a fleeing stolen vehicle occupied by Lazarit and his girlfriend Janey Walton, 37, Dolan Springs.

Mortensen said the stolen Hyundai Sonata was subsequently located where abandoned in the desert north of Dolan Springs on April 19. She said Lazarit, Walton and four other suspects were arrested as authorities conducted five warrant-based searches on Dolan Springs and Meadview properties on Tuesday, April 30.

Others arrested and jailed for drug or weapon related charges include Erica Devine, 29, Blayne Clifford, 32, Fernando Martinez, 36 and Robert Krause, 65, all of Dolan Springs.

Authorities have withheld information regarding drug and property seizures, though they indicate additional charges are pending.

Dave Hawkins

The post Drug probe nets six arrests for fentanyl distribution first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

BULLHEAD CITY – A Camp Verde man will serve lengthy incarceration in a drugged driving traffic fatality. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle ordered a 28.5-year prison term for Benjamin Nettrour, 37, during an April 26 sentencing hearing.

The Department of Public Safety said Nettrour was northbound on U.S. 93 when the pickup truck he was driving rear-ended a passenger vehicle, pushing it into the median where it rolled 23 miles north of Kingman  last June.

A passenger in the vehicle, Angelina Ortega, 52, Chloride, was dead at the scene. Two other passengers were hospitalized with injuries.

That Nettrour chose to take drugs and drive was key for Carlisle. “Being under the influence is what caused this accident,” the judge said.

Nettrour was convicted of manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and driving under the influence of drugs.

The post 28 years for drugged driving death first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

LAKE HAVASU CITY – A Lake Havasu City man faces a mandatory prison sentence following his conviction at trial in a shooting death. A Mohave County Superior Court jury found Angel Caldera guilty of manslaughter following deliberation in Kingman on Friday, April 26.

The jury declined to convict Caldera, 23, of second-degree murder, favoring instead conviction for the lesser included offense of manslaughter. The panel rejected the self-defense claim offered by Legal Defender Jonathan Robinson.

There was no dispute that Caldera had kicked Arnell Bell, 19, out of a residence at 2595 McCulloch Boulevard N for failure to pay rent. It was also uncontested that the pair scuffled before Caldera opened fire on May 17 last year.

Robinson asserted that Bell was pummeling Caldera, knocked his glasses off and pulled his shirt over his head. Robinson said Caldera shot Bell with his Glock after Bell said he was going to stab him.

Prosecutor Leah Nelson countered that Bell was unarmed and that Caldera all but emptied the weapon on Bell, shooting him four times in the back. Nelson said the medical examiner testified that Bell sustained 12 gunshot wounds.

Nelson said that conclusion matches the defendant’s testimony that the Glock had a 13-bullet capacity and other testimony that a single round had not been fired.

Caldera faces a 7-21 prison term when sentenced May 23.

Dave Hawkins

The post Caldera convicted of manslaughter in shooting death first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

KINGMAN – An arrest is reported after a Kingman woman alleged her ex-husband deliberately struck the bike she was riding Saturday afternoon, April 20. Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) deputies responded to the victim’s residence after being notified a vehicular assault had occurred in the area of Northfield Ave. and Tommie Dr.

“She advised that she had been struck by a vehicle,” said MCSO Public Information Officer Anita Mortensen. “The victim alleged that while riding her bike she heard a vehicle accelerating and saw a white SUV driven by her ex-husband.”

The woman reportedly claimed the vehicle clipped the rear wheel of her bicycle, sending her flying over the handlebars and onto the ground.

Mortensen said deputies observed injuries consistent with her account. She said a look at the collision scene and the vehicle provided additional corroborating evidence.

Mortensen said the subject in question, Michael Gadjoyan, 36, Kingman, provided inconsistent stories when interviewed about his involvement. She said he was arrested and booked into the Adult Detention Center for aggravated assault and endangerment.

The post Gadjoyan charged with vehicular assault first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

KINGMAN – A man who set fire to a maintenance facility building on the Mohave County Adult Detention Center campus in Kingman was released from custody following a two-month jail stay on Tuesday, April 24. His same day release from the Detention Center was a condition of the plea agreement that John Williamson, 57, entered before Judge Billy Sipe.

Williamson pleaded guilty to an attempted jail destruction related charge while arson and criminal trespass counts are dismissed.

Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) reports reveal Williamson requested and received a ride from a deputy to a downtown Kingman truck stop on Feb. 25. At some point he walked a half-mile or more to the nearby Detention Center, apparently suffering from some paranoid delusion that he was being “chased by people.”

MCSO public information officer Anita Mortensen said security surveillance system footage shows Williamson hopping a fence on the county property before he struck things with a pipe and secured a can of gas that he dumped on the rollup garage door to the maintenance facility, and set it on fire.

Mortensen said Williamson told responding officers he was seeking help and knew they’d come if he raised sufficient ruckus. She said Williamson was difficult to understand and appeared to be under the influence or suffering mental health issues.

Defense attorney Barbara Hull told Judge Billy Sipe that Williamson thought he was “being chased by people in a Camaro” and set the fire to get help, before he used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the flames himself before authorities arrived on scene.

“He was not trying to hurt anyone,” Hull said. “He was trying to get attention I think because he thought he was in danger.”

Judge Sipe said the get out of jail plea is unusually lenient given the nature of the incident and the defendant’s prior criminal history. Nonetheless, he approved the attorney-crafted deal and sentenced Williamson to 60 days already served in custody.

Judge Sipe also placed Williamson on probation for three years, allowing him to return to Las Vegas and reside with his parents. Williamson is also responsible for $410 restitution for property damage.

Dave Hawkins

The post Jail property arsonist freed after plea deal first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

KINGMAN – A Lake Havasu City man shot and killed his unarmed roommate in a rental dispute claims self-defense at his trial that opened Tuesday in Kingman. Legal Defender Jonathan Robinson urged the Mohave County Superior Court jury to determine that Angel Caldera, 23, acted reasonably and was justified when he opened fire and claimed the life of Arnell Bell, 19, on May 17 last year.

Robinson and prosecutor Leah Nelson stipulated to the admission of more than 70 pieces of evidence as many aspects of the case are not in dispute. But the Deputy Mohave County Attorney strenuously argued that the defendant acted unreasonably and is guilty of second-degree murder.

Nelson told the jury that Bell had agreed to pay half his share of rent up front when he moved into the unit #101 residence at 2595 McCulloch Boulevard N that Caldera already shared with his sister and her boyfriend. She said Bell lost his job and that Caldera demanded that he fully pay up or move out about a week before the shooting.

Nelson said Caldera let Bell enter the home the morning of May 17 to retrieve possessions from the room he was renting. She said Caldera, already armed and prepared for work at Sam’s Shooters Emporium, confronted him about five minutes later, contending he was taking too long, and a struggle ensued.

“Within three minutes 13 shots were fired from that Glock by Angel Caldera … not once, not twice but 13 times,” Nelson said. “Angel brought a gun to a fist fight.”

Nelson said that the unarmed Bell was shot in the back four times, and that bullet trajectory evidence suggests the teenager was shot many times when already wounded and down.

Robinson countered that Caldera needed to get to work and opened the bedroom door to tell Bell to hurry up. The defense attorney said Bell charged the defendant, repeatedly pummeling him and drawing blood, while disabling and obscuring Caldera’s vision by knocking off his glasses and pulling his shirt over his head.

Robinson said that Bell told Caldera he was going to stab him when his “NRA training kicked in” and he opened fire in self-defense. He urged the jurors to find Caldera’s actions to be reasonable and justified under the law.

The trial before Judge Billy Sipe is expected to take several days to complete.

Dave Hawkins

The post Havasu murder trial opens first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.