Crime Briefs: Woman arrested in shoplifting

A woman who walked out of a Green Valley supermarket with more than $850 worth of groceries has been arrested for shoplifting, Pima County Sheriff’s reports said.

Store employees called authorities Monday evening after Barbara Smith, 61, left the Safeway on Continental Road without paying for the groceries in her shopping cart.

Smith told them she didn’t plan on paying for the items because she had no money.

She was cited for shoplifting and released, and has a pending court date.

Reports say Smith is banned from entering a Safeway store in the Tucson area.

Two workers at the Phelps-Dodge Mine in Sahuarita had to be rescued on Monday after their boat overturned in an tailings pond.

After falling into the water, the men climbed on top of the capsized boat and waited there until AirVac helicopter crews arrived, said Green Valley Fire District spokesperson Captain Melissa Smith.

Neither worker was injured in the accident, she said.

A spokesperson from Phelps-Dodge says the water in the tailings pond did not contain any corrosive materials.

On scene were the Green Valley Fire District, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

Shots were fired last week when Sahuarita residents arrived at their home and found it being burglarized, a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.

The incident took place on Saturday, Sept. 27, around 4 p.m. in the 17000 block of South Irving Ave.

When the residents arrived at their home, they saw a car parked in their carport with two men inside. The Sheriff’s spokesperson said at least one of the residents then entered the house, and discovered two men committing a burglary.

The suspects inside the house, described as Hispanic males, fired several shots and then left with the men in the car.

No one was injured in the shooting and initial reports said nothing appeared to be missing from the house.

Sheriff’s detectives are still investigating the case.

Two women stopped by Arizona Department of Public Safety Officers along the Interstate last week were arrested for possession of 20 pounds of cocaine, an AZDPS spokesperson said Friday in a press release.

On Sept. 26, a Chrysler 300M was going northbound on I-19 when officers conducted a traffic stop just south of Valencia Road. A search of the vehicle with a canine unit revealed a hidden compartment in the back seat that contained 20 pounds of cocaine.

The driver of the vehicle, Marina Silva, 18, from Rio Rico, and passenger Rosa Medina Medina, 30, from Nogales, Sonora, were arrested and charged with possession of a dangerous drug, possession of a dangerous drug for sale, and transportation of a dangerous drug for sale and were booked into the Pima County Jail.

Each suspect’s bond is set at $250,000.

AZDPS says the cocaine has an estimated street value of approximately $160,000.

Human remains were discovered last week in a remote part of Arivaca, and authorities believe they belong to an illegal immigrant.

On Sept. 26, Border Patrol agents and Sheriff’s deputies were led to a spot near milepost 9 of Arivaca Road by a resident who found the remains, deputies said in a report.

There they found bones scattered across a hill, along with a few pieces of tattered clothing and a Tommy Hilfiger-brand sneaker, the report said.

Deputies say there was no evidence the death might have been a homicide.

The remains were taken to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner for an autopsy.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726