Stephen Lemons
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Articles by Stephen Lemons
‘You did the full George Floyd on him,’ video could cost Pinal taxpayers big sum
The false arrest and thuggish treatment of an 18-year-old high school student by Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller’s chief investigator, Richard “Hank” Mueller, may leave county taxpayers on the hook for close to $1 million to avoid an even more costly lawsuit. A notice of claim filed with Pinal County on Sept. 16 by attorneys for Rayvion Johnson demands an $800,000 settlement to head off further litigation regarding a March 26 traffic stop that went wrong.
Secretary of State leads cops on booze-fueled chase — when he was 19
In 1989, the 19-year-old future Secretary of State led ASU cops on an alcohol-fueled chase through campus The Arizona State University Police Department report from July 1989 reads like a scene from National Lampoon’s Animal House. It hardly computes that the report concerns a young Adrian Fontes, Arizona’s Secretary of State, who is beloved by Democrats and sometimes embarrassingly venerated by members of the Fourth Estate.
Secretary of State leads cops on booze-fueled chase — when he was 19
In 1989, the 19-year-old future Secretary of State led ASU cops on an alcohol-fueled chase through campus The Arizona State University Police Department report from July 1989 reads like a scene from National Lampoon’s Animal House. It hardly computes that the report concerns a young Adrian Fontes, Arizona’s Secretary of State, who is beloved by Democrats and sometimes embarrassingly venerated by members of the Fourth Estate.
Joe Arpaio’s 94th birthday party was rife with scuzzy has-beens
Looking frail and scarecrow-thin, his voice whispery and hoarse at times, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio sat onstage in a gold lamé empire-style chair. And he remained there for most of Friday evening at the Fountain Hills Community Center as several hundred fellow alter kockers and rogues of all stripes ate a free meal of pasta with meatballs and celebrated Arpaio’s 94th birthday.
How Maricopa County’s top prosecutor got her loudest critic disbarred
Be careful what you tweet about the county attorney. She may make it her personal mission to scorch the very earth you walk upon. Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell recently scored her pound of flesh from online troll and onetime defense lawyer Vladimir Gagic, who likes to pass the time by profanely criticizing her appearance and job performance on social media. And the State Bar of Arizona played cat’s paw to the thin-skinned prosecutor.
Petersen calls Glassman a ‘criminal,’ gay-bashes Kris Mayes at debate
Thursday’s debate between primary opponents in the Republican contest for Arizona Attorney General turned ugly fast. And it stayed ugly till the bitter end — particularly when Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen dropped a bomb, calling fellow nominee Rodney Glassman a “criminal” while referring to explosive, unproven allegations of sexual misconduct that Petersen’s camp has been pushing for months.
Rodney Glassman’s brother sued by former business partner
Mike von Gold, the former business partner of Jeremy Glassman. On Thursday, local DJ, producer and sound engineer Michael Von Gold filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court against his former business associate, Jeremy Glassman. In the suit, Von Gold accuses the younger brother of Arizona Attorney General candidate Rodney Glassman of financial and sexual improprieties — accusations that have fed into political ambushes in the AG primary race, as Phoenix New Times recently reported.
Petersen allies pushing decades-old, unproven sex claim about Glassman
For months, political operatives have passed around a document containing explosive allegations about Rodney Glassman, a GOP candidate for Arizona Attorney General. For the most part, the document has remained the subject of rumor and gossip among political insiders. Until recently, that is. Last week, the document’s allegations — which detail sexual misconduct claims from decades ago that are nearly impossible to verify independently — were pushed into broad daylight.
The most ghoulish things we saw at the Phoenix Border Security Expo
Like a litter of kitties around a milk bowl, government and business leaders assembled in Phoenix on Tuesday and Wednesday. They were there for the immigration industrial complex’s annual Border Security Expo, where they patted themselves on the back for closing the southern border and helping President Donald Trump implement mass deportations across the country — all at a staggering price to the American taxpayer. Civil unrest and civilian dead.
How Scottsdale cops botched a probe into a strip club drugging scheme
April 14, 2026 The Scottsdale Police Department trumpeted its investigation into two strip clubs over an alleged scheme to drug and defraud patrons. Years later, nothing has become of it. We’re aiming to raise $10,000 by April 26. Your support ensures New Times can continue watching out for you and our community. No paywall. Always accessible. Daily online and weekly in print. Progress to goal $10,000 No wonder it went viral.
Pinal County Attorney’s top investigator body-slammed Black teen
Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller (left) speaks at a press conference. His top investigator, Richard Mueller, stands on the right. We’re aiming to raise $10,000 by April 26. Your support ensures New Times can continue watching out for you and our community. No paywall. Always accessible. Daily online and weekly in print.
Google claws back money from Turning Point-aligned PAC in SRP election
Leadership elections for the Salt River Project are usually sleepy affairs. Dozens of mostly obscure individuals vie for seats on the utility’s governing boards and councils. Participation is limited to landowners and is based on acreage, with local land barons awarded the most votes. But this year is shaping up to be different.
Mayes, Horne sued for bungling ESA fraud prosecution of innocent man
Few would claim Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes was in cahoots with Tom Horne, the state’s superintendent of public instruction. Mayes is a Democrat while Horne is a Republican, and the two have sparred frequently and publicly over Horne’s lax administration of Arizona’s permissive school voucher program, which costs taxpayers about $1 billion a year.
Embattled Pinal County prosecutor’s top investigator is disgraced cop
Pinal County Attorney's Office investigator Richard Mueller. For the past month, MAGA-aligned Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller has been stubbornly insisting that a 287(g) agreement his office struck with Immigration and Customs Enforcement is legal, allowing his investigators to enforce federal immigration law. Given the rampant abuses and questionable practices exhibited by ICE agents during the second Trump presidency, Miller’s top investigator should fit right in.
Mayes may probe Pinal County Attorney over Signal use, misusing funds
Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller (left) and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (right). Earlier this year, Phoenix New Times reported that MAGA-aligned Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller had hidden official communications by using the encrypted messaging app Signal, including at one point to whine that Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes should “go away!” On that score, Miller may not get his wish.
Gila County Attorney sued by man axed for ‘Rot in Hell Charlie Kirk’ post
February 5, 2026 Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was murdered in Utah on Sept. 10, 2025. After an assassin killed Christian nationalist commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk last year, right-wingers successfully drummed hundreds out of their jobs for their supposedly heinous comments about Kirk’s death. Some of those people had merely quoted Kirk’s own words.
Pinal County Attorney used Signal to skirt public records law
Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller. Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller has denied that he uses the encrypted messaging app Signal to shield work communications from public records scrutiny, as alleged in a notice of claim letter sent to his office last month.
Right-wing Pinal County Attorney hit with sex discrimination claims
Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller Since claiming office in 2024, Republican Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller has garnered a few headlines. He’s signed his office up to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a time when ICE’s budget is booming and its popularity is in the toilet. He nearly tore a muscle raising his hand for the chance to prosecute Democratic state Sen.
Glendale official asked for cash while blasting council ‘slush fund’
Mark it down as a rookie mistake, an unforced error or both. Recently, freshman Glendale City Councilmember Lupe Conchas has crusaded against the city’s generous monthly stipends for councilmembers. The stipends — $1,350 a month on top of a yearly salary of $34,000 and another $33,000 a year for district expenses — amount to a “slush fund,” the 33-year-old Conchas said in an interview with ABC15 last week.
Arizona woman: Musk’s PAC owes me thousands for petition signatures
Elon Musk’s America PAC, which spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to get Donald Trump elected, owes an Arizona woman and potentially “thousands” of others payment promised to them for petition signatures they obtained during the 2024 election. That’s according to a class-action complaint filed last week in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Chandler City Council unanimously kills Sinema-backed data center
An anti-Kyrsten Sinema sign. This “AI lobbyist” thing doesn’t seem to be working out for former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. For the better part of a year, Sinema schmoozed and charmed city staffers and the seven members of the Chandler City Council. Now a senior advisor with the powerhouse Washington, D.C., lobbying firm Hogan Lovells, she traded numerous emails and arranged one-on-one meetings.
Chandler data center project will use ‘unknown’ amount of water
The real impact of a proposed Chandler data center on water supplies is a bit fuzzy. Those pushing for a controversial new AI data center in Chandler — a cohort that includes paid not-technically-a-lobbyist Kyrsten Sinema — have made big promises about how it would save the city water. Razing an existing structure to make way for the new one will instantly save 12 million gallons as if flicking a switch, according to the project’s developer, New York-based firm Active Infrastructure.
Sheriff considered request to house ICE detainees in county jails
Earlier this year, Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan complained that he felt “handcuffed” by the federal court order in the Melendres civil rights case, which prohibits sheriff’s deputies from enforcing federal immigration law. But internal sheriff’s office emails recently obtained by Phoenix New Times via a public records request reveal that in April, Sheridan was exploring the possibility of holding immigration detainees on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Arizona's Sinema is getting paid to push for a Chandler data center
Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been working as a paid lobbyist to push for a Chandler data center, even if she isn't registered as one. It felt like a visit from your friendly neighborhood cartel kingpin. Or in this case, an ex-senator. It was Oct. 16 and Kyrsten Sinema — the reviled former Democrat and former lawmaker — was standing at a podium in a much less august chamber than the one she used to haunt.
Maricopa County prosecutor's No. 1 online troll under investigation
Kris Mayes and Rachel Mitchell aren’t exactly pals. Last year, they traded barbed letters over who has the authority to seek death warrants for state executions. Mitchell, the centrist Republican prosecutor for Maricopa County, accused Mayes of not killing prisoners fast enough. Mayes, the Democratic state attorney general, essentially told Mitchell to stay in her lane.
How the sheriff’s office milked a racial profiling case for $163M
It may be way past time for some Maricopa County supervisors to eat a ginormous steaming plate of crow pie. Back in July, during a community meeting about the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s efforts to follow a judge’s orders from the decade-old racial profiling suit Melendres v. Arpaio, several Republican officials lambasted the ongoing need to comply with them.
Audit: Maricopa County Sheriff overstated compliance costs by $163M
For months, prominent Republicans in Arizona have decried the mounting costs of complying with a federal judge’s orders to reform the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, with county officials pegging the cost of compliance over the last decade to soon pass the $350 million mark. Now, though, an audit of those costs has revealed that the sheriff’s office has been charging tens of millions to compliance efforts that had nothing to do with the underlying racial profiling case, Melendres v. Arpaio.
He’s Tucson’s ‘mushroom man.’ The feds may deport him over paperwork
October 7, 2025 Hernan Castro has 30,000 Instagram followers and has become a notable figure in Tucson's community of mushroom enthusiasts. It was August, and the vibe at the Southwest Funga Fest was appropriately crunchy and certifiably Tucson. Men and women in floppy hats and sandals sold mushroom-filled chocolates and quail eggs. Stalls peddled mushroom-based soaps, vials of fungal extracts, mushroom-shaped earrings and stickers.
Federal judge smacks Trump admin for bogarting Tucson murder suspect
a woman stands in front of a gaggle of reporters Score a win for the home team — in this case, the office of Pima County Attorney Laura Conover. For months, Conover’s office has been trying to get its mitts on accused carjacker and murderer Julio Cesar Aguirre, who was arrested by Tucson police on June 30 after allegedly committing two home invasions and murdering 70-year-old Tucson resident Ricky Miller Sr. as he sat in his truck.
Murdered man’s family slams ‘shocking’ police communication failures
The Chandler home of Frank and Judy Denogean is filled with images of their eldest son, David. In hat and gown when he graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in secondary education. Suited up for a game when he played football for Phoenix College. In dark glasses, looking suave, when he worked the door at the Rebel Lounge. And a more recent one, holding in his arms his pet Labrador, Evie, who was next to him the night he was murdered.
Politics & Government Archives
“They use that all the time: ‘We dropped the ball.’ That must be the department catchphrase instead of ‘to serve and protect.'” Rep. Abe Hamadeh, a staunch MAGA congressman, plans to run a bill to create 400,000 commerative Charlie Kirk coins. Starting next month, Valley voters will be asked to approve the measure in an all-mail election. Here’s what it’s about. The line between church and state was nowhere to be found at Sunday’s service, which drew masses of Charlie Kirk followers.
Crime & Police Archives
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Police said Ote-Tee Brooks Nalwood pointed a gun at them from his car. Whether he did is hard to see on body-cam footage. The man cited Charlie Kirk’s killing as motivation and spouted baseless right-wing claims about transgender school shooters. Derok Roach admitted to hooking up in his police car, including in church parking lots. His partner claimed she was forced. Police said Efrain Hidalgo pulled a knife. Body-cam video shows a cop shot him nine times without warning Hidalgo to drop it.
By TJ L'Heureux Verified, Joseph Darius Jaafari Verified, Stephen Lemons Verified, Morgan Fischer Verified
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Phoenix New Times
Verified
Charlie Kirk's funeral brought Arizona uncut Christian Nationalism
A capacity crowd filled Glendale’s State Farm Stadium on Sunday, with thousands of people shut out of the 63,000-seat venue and directed to overflow seating at the nearby Desert Diamond Arena. Then, in both venues, they sat through a more than five-hour marathon of unapologetic Christian nationalism in honor of Charlie Kirk, the Arizona-based right-wing activist who was murdered on Sept. 10 at a college event in Utah.
Phoenix police identified, never charged suspect in 2022 killing
On Nov. 25, 2022, David Denogean was listening to a podcast and walking his white Labrador mix, Evie, near the apartment he shared with his girlfriend in Phoenix. Suddenly, without any apparent provocation, an unknown man ran up from behind and shot Denogean several times outside Feeney’s Restaurant & Bar near 12th Street and Maryland Avenue. Denogean was rushed to HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.
How kissing Trump’s ass won a Border Patrol leader a cushy job abroad
Squinting, his thumbs hitched into the waist of his beige chinos, Brandon Judd stood next to Donald Trump, prepared to plant a sloppy one. It was February 2024, and Trump was in Texas to mercilessly flog border security as he ran to regain the White House. The tiny border town of Eagle Pass had become a flashpoint in the immigration debate, with Texas Gov.
How kissing Trump's ass won a Border Patrol leader a cushy job abroad
September 9, 2025 For years, former Border Patrol union president Brandon Judd had trafficked in the same alarmist, nativist rhetoric that had become a trademark of Donald Trump’s politics. Squinting, his thumbs hitched into the waist of his beige chinos, Brandon Judd stood next to Donald Trump, prepared to plant a sloppy one. It was February 2024, and Trump was in Texas to mercilessly flog border security as he ran to regain the White House.
Glassman touts endorsement in AG race that Yuma sheriff denies giving
Glassman, who is running against Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen in the GOP primary, recently bragged on X about the "support" he's received from "over 30 police associations across Arizona." Among those endorsers is Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot, a fellow Republican. Unfortunately for Glassman, Wilmot does not appear to have actually endorsed Glassman, at least not in the way that Glassman apparently thinks.
The Arpaio All-Stars: Meet the county sheriff’s sketchy retreads
Despite giving Joe Arpaio a birthday hug in June, new Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan has repeatedly and publicly distanced himself from Arizona’s most infamous law enforcement officer. Sheridan may have been Arpaio’s second-in-command back in the day, but he insists he has no interest in using his office for immigration enforcement. He promises to fully comply with the orders of federal Judge G.
Tom Homan once spared Phoenix migrants. Now he's Trump’s Darth Vader
Standing in front of a joint session of the Arizona Legislature in April, Tom Homan played the hits. During a nearly 30-minute address punctuated with occasional profanity, Donald Trump’s so-called border czar spouted the same crude bluster, defiance and dime-store machismo that have become the hallmarks of his public appearances.
Miscarriage of Justice: Donald Trump’s War on Pregnant Migrants
Four days before Christmas 2017, Rubia Morales-Alfaro crossed into the United States through a hole in the border wall that separates Tijuana and San Diego. She was 27 years old and filled with courage, hope and a rather naive view of America’s immigration system. She was also several weeks pregnant. For months, she and her partner, Miguel Hernandez, had traveled from El Salvador through Guatemala and then Mexico. Sometimes they stopped to work along the way, cleaning tables and toilets.
Miscarriage of justice: Donald Trump’s war on pregnant migrants Original
Four days before Christmas in 2017, Rubia Morales-Alfaro crossed into the United States through a hole in the border wall that separates Tijuana and San Diego. She was 27 years old and filled with courage, hope, and a rather naive view of America’s immigration system. She was also several weeks pregnant. For months, she and her partner, Miguel Hernandez, had traveled from El Salvador through Guatemala and then Mexico. Sometimes they stopped to work along the way, cleaning tables and toilets.
How Clinton and Obama Helped Build Trump’s Mass Deportation Machine
Last weekend, in Arizona and across the country, masses of people rallied to protest President Donald Trump and his administration’s inhumane, racist and power-hungry immigration policies. Their grievances might as well have been listed as Thomas Jefferson enumerated those of the American colonies in 1776 — though the object of Jefferson’s ire was a real king, not a wannabe one. He has terrorized cities with immigration agents, plucking hard-working people from work sites, homes and schools.
How Clinton and Obama helped build Trump’s mass deportation machine
Last weekend, in Arizona and across the country, masses of people rallied to protest President Donald Trump and his administration’s inhumane, racist and power-hungry immigration policies. Their grievances might as well have been listed as Thomas Jefferson enumerated those of the American colonies in 1776 — though the object of Jefferson’s ire was a real king, not a wannabe one. He has terrorized cities with immigration agents, plucking hard-working people from work sites, homes and schools.
Arizona's infamous Joe Arpaio celebrates birthday with serial murderer
While tanks rolled and nationwide protests roiled, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio rang in his 93rd birthday with about 150 well-wishers at his memorabilia-filled Fountain Hills office. Dressed in a blue business suit draped over a gaunt frame, Arpaio mugged for the camera, received kisses from mostly matronly admirers and shook hands as if he were running for office again.
Arizona citizen journalist and Joe Arpaio foe Dennis Gilman dead at 67
Dennis Gilman, an independent videographer in Phoenix who for years advocated for the poor and undocumented in his videos, was found dead Saturday in his home in Globe. He was 67. Peggy Plews, a longtime friend of Gilman's, told Phoenix New Times that she discovered his body after he had been out of contact for several days. Also an accomplished musician, Gilman apparently died on his couch, with his guitar nearby.
A septic tank in this tiny Arizona town could crack a 2006 cold case
It’s not hard to miss the small Arizona outpost of Seligman. It’s a dot on the map about an hour west of Flagstaff — technically not a town but a “census-designated place,” a more complicated way of saying, “This place exists.” Home to roughly 450 souls, its only claim to fame is that it sits on historic Route 66, though it clings to only one of that famous highway’s 2,448 miles.
Protesters mark El Día del Niño by bashing Trump and Musk piñatas
Nothing feels better than clobbering President Trump's…likeness. Kids in South Phoenix learned this the fun way Sunday at an El Día del Niño celebration in Grant Park by taking sticks to piñatas — including one depicting a grumpy Trump and another featuring his billionaire fanboy Elon Musk seated in a red Cybertruck.
Maricopa County Attorney received animal poop in the mail
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is quite often full of crap, metaphorically speaking. But now she has a really stinky situation on her hands — discovering the identity of the anonymous prankster who mailed her a plastic baggie full of brown squishy stuff purporting to be animal poo. On Feb. 14, the Phoenix Police Department dispatched two officers to Mitchell's home to investigate the alleged excrement, according to an incident report obtained by Phoenix New Times.
Who is Lori Vallow Daybell? What to know about the ‘Doomsday Cult Mom’
On March 31, convicted child-killer Lori Vallow Daybell will stand trial in Maricopa County Superior Court for allegedly murdering her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. Dubbed the “Doomsday Cult Mom” for her bizarre religious beliefs, the former Chandler resident plans to represent herself in what's expected to be a four-week trial before Judge Justin Beresky.
Phoenix cops get light, 24-hour suspensions for Tyron McAlpin assault
On Tuesday, three Phoenix police officers involved in the unprovoked beating and Tasing of an innocent, deaf Black man with cerebral palsy received a light rap on the knuckles from interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan — currently among four finalists to be appointed the city's next permanent police chief. Via a press release, Sullivan announced that the three cops involved in the brutal 2024 attack on Tyron McAlpin would be getting a day off from work — albeit without pay.
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