Tempe Police reported the following incidents Wednesday:
- A 37-year-old Scottsdale man was arrested Monday on suspicion of transportation theft at the 600 block of North Scottsdale Road, according to a police report.
A cab driver was near his running cab at a Denny’s parking lot when the 37-year-old man jumped into the driver’s seat and drove off, police reported.
After the man drove and parked the cab at the intersection of East Rio Salado Parkway and South Rural Road, the man threw the keys to the cab toward the southwest corner of the intersection and walked south on Rural Road, according to the report.
A Tempe Police officer located the man walking on Rural Road, police reported. When he was arrested, the man said he took the cab because he needed to cross a bridge over the Tempe Town Lake, police reported.
The vehicle was not damaged and returned to the cab driver, who identified the man, according to the report.
The man was arrested and transported to Tempe City Jail for booking, police reported.
- A 33-year-old Tempe man was arrested Tuesday at North Scottsdale Road and Fillmore Street on suspicion of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, weapon possession and driving under the influence, according to a police report.
Tempe Police officers pulled the man over during a vehicle stop, but when an officer approached the vehicle, he could smell alcohol and noticed the man had watery, bloodshot eyes, police reported.
During questioning the man admitted to drinking a 24-ounce beer about two hours prior to the vehicle stop and agreed to field sobriety and breath tests, police reported.
The man had a blood alcohol level of .126, according to the report.
After an officer placed the man under arrest, a narcotics K-9 unit found a black backpack in the trunk, which contained a Smith and Wesson handgun — later revealed to be stolen — a large amount of marijuana packed into individual bags and $200, according to the report.
The man was transported and booked into Tempe City Jail and was released pending drug charges, police reported.
- A 50-year-old Phoenix man was arrested Tuesday morning at the 1800 block of East Broadway road on suspicion of third degree burglary and burglary tool possession, according to a police report.
The man was seen through security surveillance taking apart an air conditioning unit on the roof of a building, which belonged to Grubb & Ellis property management, according to the report.
After the security alarm went off, the security company who contacted Tempe Police who detained the man on the roof with the aid of Tempe Fire, police reported.
The man admitted to police he had broken into two air conditioning units to steal the copper from them and on his person police found a small brown bag with miscellaneous tools he used, according to the report.
The tools were impounded and the man was arrested and transported to Tempe City Jail for booking, police reported.
The cost of the damage to the air conditioning units was unknown at the time of the reports, according to police.
Reports compiled by Shawn Raymundo. Reach the reporter at sraymund@asu.edu
