Glendale’s Community Newspaper
Vol. 75 No. 43
INSIDE
This Week
SPORTS ........ 18 Glendale High makes post-season push
FEATURES .... 22 Desert Rose hosts eclectic mix of entertainment
OPINION..................... 14 BUSINESS.................. 16 SPORTS ...................... 18 CALENDAR ................ 20 FEATURES.................. 22 RELIGION ................... 28 YOUTH........................ 31 CLASSIFIEDS ............. 34
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October 24, 2019
Glendale interim police chief put to the test BY TOM SCANLON
Glendale Star Associate Editor
It didn’t take long before Glendale Interim Police Chief Chris Briggs was tested with three high-profile cases. At the end of July, Rick St. John retired as chief of the Glendale Police Department. City Manager Kevin Phelps named Briggs, a 27-year veteran of the Glendale Police, as the interim chief. Two-and-a-half months into the job, during the weekend of Oct. 11 to Oct. 13, Briggs was put to the fire. First, on the morning of Friday, Oct. 11, an unwanted guest shot and killed Michael Lee outside Lee’s Glendale home. Two nights later, outside a raucous party police called “illegal,” a Glendale officer
Council moved quickly on raise request
fatally shot Levy Isaac Madueno Santibanez, 17. Although violence continues to increase as Glendale grows, the Lee homicide is still unusual. “I would never say homicide is ‘a day-to-day thing’ in Glendale,” Briggs said in an interview last Wednesday. “But we have a great staff and great investigators. They know how to handle these things.” Within four days of Lee’s death, Glendale officers arrested Michael William Ingram. He was charged with killing Lee. In an unrelated case, a man driving by the area of Northern and 68th avenues called 911 at 2:44 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13. He reported hearing multiple gunshots. Police say Santibanez fired a handgun at
an officer first, before officers returned fire killing Santibanez. Cases like these get the chief’s immediate attention. “I was called at 3:45 in the morning,” Briggs said. He was asked what his role is, in this situation. “My job is to make sure we have all the resources to respond … ensure policies and procedures are followed, make sure our officers and staff are taken care of,” Briggs said. “It’s a balance of facilitating anything the community or groups need and making sure all our employees are taken care of.” Briggs would not comment on specifics about the case, as an investigation into the SEE CHIEF PAGE 4
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BY TOM SCANLON
Glendale Star Associate Editor
Although some complain governments take too long to act, Glendale’s mayor and city council moved swiftly to prepare a ballot measure with pay raises — for themselves. A majority of “yes” votes Nov. 5 would raise the salary of councilmembers by 55%, from $34,000 to $52,685. The mayor’s salary would increase by 43%, from $48,000 to $68,490. In Goodyear, where he makes $9,400 per year as a councilman, Brannon Hampton was surprised by his Glendale counterparts’ salary. “I didn’t know Glendale was that high,” HampSEE RAISES PAGE 2
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