Category: Court News

LAKE HAVASU CITY – Police report seizure of a pound of cocaine following a traffic stop on Highway 95 near Oro Grande Boulevard in Lake Havasu City. K-9 “Rocky” alerted on illegal cargo after the vehicle was pulled over at about 10:00 p.m. on Friday, February 21. The cocaine with a street value of up to $30,000 had been package for sale, according to police. A usable quantity of marijuana was also confiscated. Daniel Nava, 28, Lake Havasu City, was booked into jail for an assortment of drug charges. Dave Hawkins

BULLHEAD CITY – Bullhead City police have distributed security system images hoping that citizens might recognize the man who reportedly robbed a gas station and convenience market early Monday. Police department spokeswoman Emily Fromelt said the male adult suspect started shoving cigarettes into a small suitcase after entering the AM/PM in the 2100 block of Highway 95 at 4:15 a.m. “He shouted at the clerk to open the register,” Fromelt said in a news release. “The clerk believed he was armed with a Taser. The suspect then fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash and stolen cigarettes.” No…

LAKE HAVASU CITY – A 25-year prison term was ordered Monday for a former Desert Hills resident convicted of selling significant quantities of drugs in Mohave County. Judge Derek Carlisle also ordered David Muehlhausen, 59, to pay almost $23,000 in fines and surcharges. Muehlhausen was not present when convicted at trial last May and he was a fugitive from justice before he was arrested in Las Vegas on December 18. Muehlhausen told the Court that he has been afflicted with addiction since 1972 but noted that he enjoyed one five-year, drug free period. “I would just like a chance to…

KINGMAN – Two Kingman residents who’ve reportedly confessed their involvement in the murder of a local woman and the burial of her body had separate status hearings in Mohave County Superior Court Monday, Feb. 24. Mark Baldonado, 32, and Carrie Vanover, 21, are charged with kidnapping, abandonment of a dead body and first-degree murder in the death of Vanover’s mother Shawn, 62. Court records reveal the couple admitted killing the elder Vanover in a child custody dispute. A probable cause affidavit said the elder Vanover already had custody of her five-year-old granddaughter and had threatened to try to gain custody…

BULLHEAD CITY – Authorities report two arrests and the seizure of more than $12 million in illegal drugs during an Interstate 40 traffic stop last Thursday, February 20. Spokeswoman Emily Fromelt said Bullhead City police department narcotics task force (MAGNET) detectives pulled over a tractor trailer just west of Kingman at 6:30 p.m. “With assistance from K9 Lorka with the Arizona Department of Public Safety and K9 Chase with the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, detectives located approximately 168 kilograms (370 pounds) of cocaine and 220 pounds of methamphetamine,” Fromelt said in a news release. “Both have a combined street value…

LAKE HAVASU CITY – Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) deputies were called to investigate a suspicious man inside an RV, where the property owners were not at home. A man matching the description, Ellis Dan Handley, 42 of Lake Havasu City, was detained nearby. Handley was physically restrained due to repeated requests to remove his hands from his pockets. It was found that Handley possessed a gun in his pocket, along with drug paraphernalia. A search of his backpack revealed 45 rounds of ammunition, 4.8 grams of methamphetamine, 1.2 grams of a brown tar-like substance, and four Adderall pills. Handley…