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Mall Promoters
Indicted
 Primary suspect in ‘Shopper’s Paradise’
scam still at large
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- The
promoters/planners of Shopper’s
Paradise, a mini-mall market
place that was supposed to open
in Apache Junction last year,
have been indicted on multiple
charges of forgery, fraudulent
schemes and theft.
Michael De Los Santos, 51, and
Mel White, 50, both of Apache
Junction were indicted on September
20, 2007. De Los Santos
was arrested by Apache Junction
Police (AJPD) last month and
was arraigned and released on a
$10,000 bond on September 28.
White could not be located and
remains at large. It is suspected
he may be hiding from authorities.
White had announced his plans
to open the indoor mall, featuring
vendors of various trades,
in the former K-mart building
at 3003 W. Apache Trail, in October
2006 and De Los Santos
joined White in promoting the
project a short time later.
White told vendors and local
media that the mini-mall would be up and
running by Thanksgiving
weekend (2006) in order
to capture the attention of early
Christmas shoppers. He began
collecting rent deposits from an
estimated 180 vendors and reportedly
began to procure city
business licenses for them at a
cost over and above that charged
by the city. It was later learned
that White never had a lease on
the former K-mart space and
didn’t have a license to collect
vendor deposits or operate his
mini-mall business in the city.
See
A-1
and see Indicted ,
A-3
Good Deeds Guy Visits
AJ
 Restaurant customers get a free lunch
By Meghan McCoy
The News
Random acts of kindness surprised
many Apache Junction
residents last Tuesday. Individuals
who were in the right place at
the right time were told their bill
would be paid with no strings attached.
A program known as “The
Good Deeds Guy” was started
a year and a half ago by Alltel
in Little Rock, Ark. Five employees
were selected to travel
around the United States on Alltel’s
behalf to spread kindness
in communities by picking up
residents’ tabs. Locally-owned
restaurants, gas stations, hair salons
and grocery stores are just a
few of the places the good deeds
guy has made an appearance.
One of Alltel’s good deeds
guys, Abel Arias, spent a day
in Apache Junction on Tuesday,
Oct. 2 along with the celebrity of
the day, Community Relations
Senior Director of the Arizona
Cardinals Luis Zendejas.
See
A-1
Sheriff Appointed To
P.O.S.T.
 Appointed to Standards & Training Board
by governor
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano
has appointed Pinal County
Sheriff Chris Vasquez to the Arizona
Peace Officers Standards
and Training Board (AZ POST).
Sheriff Vasquez and the other
board members are required to address
the need for uniform peace
officer selection, recruitment,
retention and training standards,
and to provide curriculum and
standards for all certified law
enforcement training
facilities.
The Board was also vested with the
responsibility
of administering the Peace Officer
Training Fund.
Their mission is to foster public trust
and confidence
by establishing and maintaining
standards
of integrity, competence and
professionalism for Arizona peace
officers and correctional
officers.
Currently the Board provides
services to approximately 170
law enforcement agencies encompassing
more than 14,400
sworn peace officers, 9,000
correctional service officers
and 16 academies. Also, AZ
POST is mandated by the legislature
to establish and enforce
the physical, mental and moral fitness
standards
for all peace officers in the state. The
Board meets
the charge to protect the public by
overseeing the
integrity of Arizona’s law enforcement
officers by
reviewing cases and taking action
against the certification
of individuals who violate the AZ POST
rules.
 Regionals This Week
For AJHS Swim And Dive
By Chuck Baker
The News
The Apache Junction swim
and dive teams will have their
hearts and minds set on qualifying
for the 4A-I State Championships
when they compete
this Friday and Saturday in the
Desert Sky Region Meet held
at Tempe McClintock High
School, 1830 E. Del Rio Drive.
At stake at the region meet is automatic
qualifying for State for
the region winner in each event
as well as those who swim the
fastest times from all five 4A-I
region meets going on around
this week at various locations.
The AJHS teams tuned up
for this week’s region meet by
hosting Scottsdale Chaparral
last Tuesday, a team figured to
be the favorite to win the region
team title. The Prospectors fell
to Chaparral 119-67 while the
Lady Prospectors also finished
runner-up by a team score of
152 to 16.
For the AJHS boys, Tim Worth
scored the only first place finish,
that coming in diving with
a score of 208.20. Jason Yates
swam to a second place finish
in the 200 freestyle with a time
of 2:04.94 and also came in second
in the 500 freestyle with a
time of 5:55.17. Robert Mohle
came in second in the 100 butterfly
with a time of 1:02.51,
D.J. Lopez was second in diving
with a score of 190.25,
the 200 medley relay team of
Austin Cherryholmes, Mohle,
Jim Huynh and Worth came in
second with a combined time
of 155.16 and the 200 freestyle
team of Mohle, Yates, Huynh
and Worth finished second with a time of
1:42.60.
See
C-1
and see Swim ,
C-3
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