Tempe Police reported the following incidents Wednesday:
- A 36-year-old Phoenix man was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting, disorderly conduct and aggravated assault of a police officer Saturday at the 900 block of South Myrtle Avenue, according to a police report.Employees at CVS Pharmacy Drug Store on Mill avenue witnessed the man take items off the shelves, put them into his backpack and leave the store without paying, police reported.Employees contacted police while another employee followed the man from a safe distance and later saw the man empty the backpack behind a building in an attempt to hide the items, according to the report.
A Tempe Police officer caught up to the man and commanded the man to sit on the ground, but the man refused multiple times, according to the report.
When the officer pushed the man in an attempt to keep him from walking any further, the man took a fighting stance with his fist clenched and his arm cocked back, as if to strike the officer, police reported.
The officer pointed a Taser stun gun at the man, commanding him again to sit down, but the man continued to refuse, according to the report.
When another officer arrived on scene and commanded the man to sit down, he heeded the officer’s commands and both officers were able to detain him, police reported.
The man was arrested, transported and booked into Tempe City Jail and held to see a judge, according to the report.
- A 23-year-old Phoenix man was arrested on suspicion of possessing narcotics and burglarizing a vehicle Saturday at the 200 block of West 5th Street, according to a police report.At a covered parking lot on West 5th street, Tempe Police witnessed the man attempting and failing to open the driver’s side door of a blue Jeep Cherokee SUV but later succeeded in opening the door of a green Honda Civic parked in the same lot, police reported.The man took an iPod from the closed glove box when the officers approached the vehicle, police reported.
The officers conducted a search of the man and found a baggy with a useable quantity of cocaine in his pants pocket, according to the report.
The man told police he believed the Civic was his friend’s car who gave him a ride into Tempe and was just checking to see what kind of music was on the iPod to confirm he was at the right vehicle, police reported.
The man said the Cherokee also might have been his friend’s car, which is why he was testing the door handles, according to the report.
The man was arrested, booked into Tempe City Jail and held to see a judge, police reported.
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