Category: Court News

KINGMAN – A plea agreement is wrapping up prosecution in the case against a former Lake Havasu City businessman accused of cheating customers out of their share of boat sale proceeds. 48-year-old Tim McDonald pleaded guilty to an attempted fraudulent schemes and artifaces charge during a June 11 hearing in Kingman. A Mohave County Superior Court jury convicted McDonald of one theft charge and acquitted him of another at the end of a February trial. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on another fraud charge and 13 counts of theft. The plea agreement resolves those remaining charges, dismissing the…

KINGMAN – A man who drew police gunfire that injured no one after stealing a vehicle from a Mohave County property in Kingman is going to the Arizona Department of Corrections for 12.5 years. The punishment for Michael Lapeer, 26, Kingman is mandated in a plea agreement that also resolves probation violations. A June 11 hearing at the Mohave County courthouse revealed that Lapeer was on probation for disorderly conduct and forgery convictions when he stole a Humvee on May 10. “He rammed the stolen Humvee into the locked chain link gate to exit the yard,” said Bullhead City police…

LAKE HAVASU CITY – Citizens intervened when a Lake Havasu City man tried to re-enter a bar early Thursday to continue an argument with his girlfriend. One of the citizens suffered a gunshot wound during a struggle about 1:30 a.m. behind the establishment in the 2100 block of McCulloch Boulevard. Arriving officers discovered that 48-year-old Robert Koerber was being restrained. He was taken into custody and jailed on an aggravated assault charge. Police said detectives determined that Koerber brandished and raised a weapon when citizens tried to keep him outside the bar. The gun discharged during an ensuing struggle and…

BULLHEAD CITY – The youngest of three defendants has been given the lightest sentence for her involvement in the robbery of a man at Rotary Park in Bullhead City last summer. Mohave County Judge Billy Sipe placed Meghan Holley, 16, on supervised probation for three years during a Monday sentencing hearing in Kingman. Judge Sipe previously ordered five year’s prison and one year in jail, respectively, for co-defendants, Cody Turner, 20, and Anthony Stevens, 23. Former deputy Mohave County Attorney Jaimye Ashley provided the factual basis of the case during Turner’s sentencing hearing in March. Ashley told the court that…

BULLHEAD CITY – Mental health issues and substance abuse played a role in the case of a Bullhead City man who injured an employee who tried to stop him from stealing from the local Walmart store. That’s what defense attorney George Hibbeler and family members said during Monday’s sentencing hearing for Jessie Aranda, 20. Aranda pleaded guilty to a robbery charge for the Jan. 31 incident while an assault count is dismissed. Bullhead City police spokeswoman Emily Fromelt said Aranda was exiting Walmart at 3:40 a.m. with a cart full of stolen merchandise when confronted by the 64-year-old store employee….