Category: Court News

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…

BULLHEAD CITYY – A Bullhead City man faces possible prosecution for a deadly traffic accident that remains under investigation. The alleged at-fault driver in the two-vehicle collision at 3:20 p.m. on Saturday, May 4 is identified as Anthony Lee, 27. “Police determined that Anthony Lee ran a red light at excessive speeds at the time of the accident,” said police spokeswoman Emily Fromelt. “He also has a suspended driver’s license.” Fromelt said the 2021 Dodge Charger driven by Lee was southbound on Highway 95 when it struck a 2020 Hyundai SUV that was turning onto the highway from Meadows Drive….

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…

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…

Benjamin Nettrour 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….