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This Week
Peoria Polar Plunge promotes safety
January 9, 2020
Peoria’s Hometown Newspaper
Federal law raises smoking age to 21 BY OCTAVIO SERRANO Peoria Times Staff Writer
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An 18-year-old customer at Peace Smokeshop and Vape Peoria customer was shocked when he tried to buy tobacco last week. Manager Adam Setter told him he was too young. “I heard rumors you had to be 21, but I had no clue it was actually happening,” said the customer, who asked to be identified as Nate Nate said he is 18, and smokes daily. He said he believes he is old enough to decide if he wants to smoke. “I’m joining the military, so I think I should be able to smoke,” Nate said. The Food and Drug Administration stunned many in late December when it
raised the age to buy tobacco and vaping products to 21. Retailers around the West Valley said they were not anticipating this; however, some understand the benefits the new law can bring. Setter agrees people who are unable to purchase tobacco products are generally upset. He said many people are now forced to immediately quit smoking, something which is normally done as a part of a process, Setter said. “It takes a process (to quit smoking),” Setter said. “Right now, for those who are addicted, they have to quit right away. There’s no substitution for it and it could be painful for someone who’s been smoking since they’re 18.” Fawaz Kanan, owner of Planet Zong Smoke Shop in Glendale, said the new
Adam Setter, manager of Peace Smokeshop and Vape Peoria, said the new age limit will bring good and bad consequences to the community. (Peoria Times photo by Octavio Serrano)
SEE SMOKE PAGE 3
Peoria resident helps save shooting victim BY TOM SCANLON
Peoria Times Managing Editor
SPORTS......... 14 Spring Training tickets on sale for Padres, Mariners
OPINION.................... 11 BUSINESS.................. 12 SPORTS...................... 14 CALENDAR................ 15 FEATURES.................. 16 RELIGION................... 20 YOUTH....................... 22 CLASSIFIEDS.............. 24
A nightmarish few hours for Anthony Michael Grad ended well, thanks to a Peoria resident who called 911 to get Grad medical assistance. Grad’s ordeal started with a carjacking in the south end of Phoenix and ended with a shooting in north Peoria. Grad was bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound. In the hours before he was treated, three young men allegedly carjacked him, forced him to withdraw money from ATMs, stole his Jeep, wallet and phone before letting him go. As he fled, they shot him in the back. Grad told Phoenix Police after arguing with his girlfriend, he decided to sleep in his car in an apartment parking lot at 4424 E. Baseline Road. He woke to find a man in a ski mask, pointing a gun at him. The man was Roderick Jabri Smith, 18, and on probation for an armed robbery, according to a probable cause report by
Roderick Smith, 18, is accused of kidnapping a man in Phoenix, stealing hundreds of dollars from him and shooting him in Peoria. (Photo courtesy Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
Phoenix Police. Smith and two others wearing ski masks held Grad at gunpoint as they drove him to ATMs. They demanded his personal identification number and withdrew hundreds of dollars.
The suspects allegedly smoked marijuana as they drove through Glendale and Peoria, finally stopping at 71st Avenue and Greenway Road, not far from the Peoria Sports Complex and the Peoria/Glendale border. Grad told police the men ordered him from the car and told him to walk backwards. As he did, he turned and ran after seeing one of the men point a gun at him. “He heard six to eight gunshots coming from the direction he fled from, when he felt one round hit him in his lower back,” the report states. Grad continued running until he found a house on West Caribbean Lane. “At the location (Grad) made contact with the resident to tell him he had been shot,” according to the report. “The resident called 911 to report the incident.” Emergency personnel transported Grad to Banner Thunderbird Hospital. According to the report, police reSEE SHOOTING PAGE 2