sexual assault tucson

Tucson man arrested in case of serial burglar, sexual predator targeting single women near UA

A month-long series of burglaries and sexual assaults targeting single women living near the University of Arizona may be over with the arrest of a Tucson man in connection with the crimes.

Barbaro Tamayo, 49, was arrested Sept. 14 in connection with the case, which involved six “sexually motivated” burglaries, according to a news release from the Tucson Police Department.

Tamayo’s only charge at the moment is one count of attempted sexual assault, but detectives are still investigating the possilibity that he is responsible for one or more of the other cases.

Detectives also “have reasons to believe” that the same suspect is responsible for all six burglaries.

The intruder preyed on single women living alone, creeping into their homes between midnight and 4 a.m. while the women were asleep. Police gave no further details on the crimes, except to say, “(The suspect) has also been very aggressive and has violent tendencies when confronted by the victims.”

The targeted area of his crimes was between Speedway Boulevard and Broadway, from Campbell Road to Stone Avenue.

While the series of sexually motivated burglaries lasted 30 days, Tayamo was tracked down within two hours of a warrant being issued for his arrest.

Tamayo was taken into custody “without incident” at his Tucson home by the Tucson police Adult Sexual Assault Detail after several agencies worked together to locate him.

Those agencies were the Tucson Police Department’s Sex Offender Registration and Tracking (SORT) Unit, the United States Marshals Service, and the Pima County Sheriffs Department Fugitive Investigations Strike Team (FIST).

Police are not yet releasing Tamayo’s photo until addition investigation is complete.

[tnipoll]

What do you think?

How should women living alone best protect themselves from intruders?

Parents who kill or maim to protect their kids: Would you?

Parents have a natural instinct to protect their children.

Mama bears will maim – or even kill – anyone who nears their cubs.

And a Tucson dad reportedly stabbed two men after he heard one of them sexually assaulted his daughter, according to an announcement from the Tucson Police Department.

While mama bears usually don’t end up in jail, Tucson dad Alejandro Ruiz, 36, was arrested after the June 5 stabbing of two men.

Ruiz reportedly heard his 16-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by “an adult male” while she was at a June 4 gathering at the guy’s house on West District Street, near South Sixth Avenue.

So Ruiz allegedly breaks into the guy’s house the next morning, stabbing both the 25-year-old guy and the guy’s 41-year-old uncle.

Both the sexual assault suspect and his uncle survived the stabbings, and Ruiz was quickly picked up by cops after he fled the scene.

Ruiz now faces charges of two counts of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault with serious physical injury as well as one count of first-degree burglary. We’re guessing the latter is for breaking in the guy’s house.

Taking the law into our own hands is not really recommended. The justice system is supposed to take care of that. But rage, revenge and a parent’s natural instinct to protect his children are apt to override such recommendations.

And we still have to ask one question – Was it worth it?

Perhaps the visceral act of plunging a “dangerous weapon” into someone who hurt your child outweighs the lawful course of action, which doesn’t always guarantee the proverbial justice will be done. Perhaps avenging a wrong done to your child is worth any prison time.

A similar situation went down in March, when a Tucson dad Daniel Renteria, 27, reportedly shot and killed Richard Rue Jr., 40, and James J. Marschinke, 49, while the two were sitting in their front yard in the 5300 block of East 25th Street.

Marschinke is accused of sexually molesting Renteria’s 3-year-old son.

So far Renteria has been indicted for two counts of manslaughter, rather than first-degree murder, according to a report in the Arizona Daily Star, after grand jurors heard about the molestation accusations.

Sounds like these jurors agree that parents who take the law into their own hands to protect their children should get a bit of leeway.

[tnipoll]

What do you think?

How far would you go to protect your children?

Would you kill or stab someone who molested them?

Would you let the justice system handle it?

Do these dads deserve jail time – or applause?

Free ride can be deadly ride: Woman assaulted by driver, attacked by dogs

Killers have long taken the joy out of hitchhiking. But even getting a ride from someone we know can be a potentially lethal idea.

Be wary of the cars you get into/Ryn Gargulinski file photo

One woman found that out when she accepted a ride home April 24 from an acquaintance named Arthur Bedoya.

Bedoya, 62, just so happens to be a high-risk level-three sex offender who lives in home surrounded by a fence and guarded by five “vicious” dogs, according to a news release from the Tucson Police Department.

We can guess where the story is going from here.

Rather than taking the woman directly to her own house, Bedoya drove to his own residence, the news release said.

Sure enough, Bedoya is listed on the Arizona Department of Public Safety sex offender registry. Although his address information says 16th Avenue and Ajo Way, it also notes that he’s homeless.

Regardless of where he lives, the woman tried to leave the property where Bedoya took her – but he evidently had other plans. He tried to sexually assault her then began to “brutally attack” her. She got away and ran outside, only to have the dogs continue the attack.

She was able to get the attention of someone passing by who helped her escape.

Police arrested Bedoya May 18. He was booked into Pima County jail on one count of kidnapping and one count of attempted sexual assault.

The woman’s multiple lacerations and contusions, a result of the attacks by both Bedoya and his dogs, were treated at University Medical Center.

My favorite taxi hailer photo/Ryn Gargulinski file photo

Free rides are potentially deadly rides, for sure. Even giving one can put us in danger.

Some argue this view it too harsh and getting or giving a free ride can be relatively safe.

While no United States statistics are readily available for those who were assaulted or killed during a free ride – how would these stats be counted? – the site Hitch-hiking.org puts forth an argument for hitchhiking in Germany.

The site notes that more than 827,000 people died in Germany in 2007, with about 30,000 of those deaths due to non-natural causes.

Of the non-natural deaths, only 451, or a scant 0.06 percent were from assaults. Since not every assault happens in a vehicle with strangers, deaths to hitchhikers or by hitchhikers is even lower than the scant 0.06 percent.

“Therefore you don’t lower the risk of dying a non-natural death in a crucial way if you omit to hitchhike or stop giving a lift to hitchhiker,” the site says.

By all means, then, hop in that stranger’s car – and make sure we pick up a stranger next time we’re driving around. For added excitement, make sure the stranger is wielding an axe.

That’s the same type of argument that says we are more likely to die from cancer than being attacked by a shark. So go ahead, swim in those deep ocean waters, especially if we happen to be bleeding for some reason.

Chum anyone?

Cabs are safer than riding with strangers/Ryn Gargulinski file photo

“There is no ‘safe’ place to hitchhike anywhere in the world,” Tom Mercer of Let’s Go Publications is quoted in an MSNBC.com article. This same story also argues that hitchhiking died in America mainly because of highway laws banning pedestrians on the side of the road. As a true crime buff, I’m still blaming the killers.

Even though he says hitchhiking is not “safe,” Mercer adds, “Travelers still find success hitching their way from town to town in certain countries and regions of the globe.”

Getting or giving rides from or to strangers may still be a popular mode of transportation in parts of Europe, but in America it’s pretty much thumbs down.

Cars can too easily become a little mobile crime scene. In fact, one of the first rules of warding off an abduction is to never let the abductor get us in the car. And if he ends up in our car, we’re supposed to smash the car into a utility pole to get attention or get away.

Kids are especially at risk. Drivers lure them with candy, Sponge Bob stickers or the tale of a family tragedy. “Your mom just got in an accident and I’m supposed to drive you to the hospital.”

The only part of the hospital a free ride may entail is a trip to the morgue.

[tnipoll]

What do you think?

Have you ever hitchhiked or picked up a hitchhiker?

What happened?

Do you give or take free rides from acquaintances?

What do you do when you’re walking around and a car pulls over to get near you?

sexual assault tucson

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