Ryn Gargulinski

Creativity on Fire

sheriff paul babeu

Who shot Pinal Deputy Puroll: Bloody shirt prime evidence to prove ambush by drug smugglers

First we had that pesky O.J. Simpson glove. Then came Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress.

Pinal County Deputy Purrol's bloody T-shirt/submitted photo

Now we have Pinal County Sheriff Deputy Louie Puroll’s bloody T-shirt.

Puroll’s bullet-holed shirt is officially being turned over to the Arizona Department of Public Safety – and his shooting case being re-opened – in the wake of reports that question the veracity of Puroll’s account of what happened out in the desert April 30, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

To recap, 53-year-old Puroll, a 15-year-veteran with the sheriff’s office, was wounded on his left side while out tracking drug smugglers near Antelope Peak.

“He was ambushed and shot,” says a May 9 letter from Sheriff Paul Babeu, with the shooting resulting in a multi-agency sweep. “There were over 100 illegals apprehended within our security perimeter in the remote desert area south of I-8 and west of Casa Grande, just within 24 hours we were there.”

Two medical examiners, one from New York and the other out of Michigan, told the Arizona Republic there is no way Puroll was shot from afar.

He had to be “within inches” of the weapon, not 25 yards away, claims Dr. Michael Baden, co-director of the New York State Police Medicolegal Investigation Unit and former chief medical examiner for New York City.

“This was fired at contact range . . . with the muzzle of the gun lying against the skin,” the Republic quotes Dr. Werner Spitz, co-author of the textbook “Medicolegal Investigation of Death” and the retired chief medical examiner of Detroit’s Wayne County.

Close-up of Pinal County Deputy Purrol's wound on his back/submitted photo

Neither doctor treated Puroll and both made conclusions based on photos of the wound.

“If in fact a rifle was fired at Deputy Puroll within a couple of inches as Dr. Baden and Dr. Spitz have concluded,” a release from Babeu’s office says, “burn marks and residue will be present on the shirt.”

Other “law-enforcement experts” question why Puroll was patrolling alone and how smugglers got away with large loads of marijuana if so many searchers were on the scene, the Republic story adds.

The case had already been closed. Both the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and the Arizona Department of Public Safety had concluded their criminal investigation and confirmed Puroll’s account of what transpired. But now the sheriff’s office is re-opening it for further investigation.

Egads – was the shooting staged only to get some attention? Is all this mumbo jumbo about dangers in the desert, like rampantly running armed drug smugglers, really just a myth?

Hopefully the shirt will help with the answers – provided, of course, it fits better than some bloody gloves.

[tnipoll]

Pinal County Deputy Purrol's wound/submitted photo

Freedom of speech means freedom of ignorance with anti SB 1070 billboard in Oracle

The beauty of freedom of speech is it lets people freely proclaim their ignorance – in a big way.

Family on Oracle billboard, complete with El Salvador emblems on shirts/submitted photo

An ignorant anti SB 1070 billboard on private property in Oracle is doing just that.

The billboard, on the property of Frank Pierson and Mary Ellen Kazda, depicts a happy-dappy family erroneously coupled with an out-of-context quote from Pinal County Sheriff Babeu.

The family, of course, is the ideal nuclear brood with mom, dad and two kids: a slightly smiling teen daughter and a cutesy little son, complete with cutesy little baseball cap. They are so friendly and sweet it looks like they should be eating an ice cream treat.

The quote next to them, attributed to Babeu, states: “This is our most serious public safety issue and a national security threat to America.”

“I find this billboard offensive and misleading,” Babeu said in a news release his office issued last week. “This message is not truthful and takes away from the great work our law enforcement members do on a daily basis to protect our Pinal County families.”

True, Babeu has spoken – loudly and boldly – about our national security, or lack thereof.

Out-of-context quote on Oracle billboard/submitted photo

However, his full message is: “Those responsible for drug and human smuggling and those entering the U.S. illegally especially from terrorist countries are the most serious public safety threat to America.”

Unless the family stole into the country illegally and the kid has a cache of drugs and machine guns beneath his baseball cap, this wholesome brood is not the threat.

“This billboard represents the same misleading and misguided message that President Obama made when he gave the example of how law enforcement would target a father walking down the street eating ice cream with his daughter if SB1070 passed,” Babeu’s release says.

Banana split anyone?

To review for about the 103rd time, SB 1070, which has been largely crippled by a federal judge’s injunction, does not allow for racial profiling but does allow for “reasonable suspicion.”

The reasonable suspicion list includes the same criteria federal agents use to spot illegal aliens. Criteria includes things like not having an ID when an ID is needed, like for driving; not being able to explain how a visa was obtained; not knowing a home address; being in a vehicle packed with people hiding beneath seats and dashboard; acting nervous or avoiding eye contact; or fleeing at the sight of law enforcement.

It says nothing about an ice cream cone.

The list, of course, is long, boring and may take a few minutes to read – it’s much more fun to quickly perpetuate misconceptions and lies.

The list, and details on the law, are also very specific. Yet some people still refuse to get it, or even read up on it, and instead go as far to erect billboards spreading ignorance and accusations.

In their defense, billboard property people Pierson and Kazda told KGUN9 News the sign is “message art” and certainly not meant to accuse anyone of racism.

Kazda added the controversy erupting over the sign “has taken her by surprise” since the message was only intended to be “provocative in a friendly way and not in a hurtful way.”

And we have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

The twisted message, whatever its alleged intention, is not the only problem with the billboard.

Although illegal aliens from Mexico are repeatedly responsible for a number of crimes on American soil, including sneaking into the country in the first place, the billboard depicts a family sporting emblems from El Salvador, according to El Salvador’s honorary consul for Arizona. He notes one is even wearing a shirt with a photo of El Salvador’s president.

So the billboard not only misconstrues Babeu’s views, but it is spewing erroneous beliefs about El Salvador.

“‘It’s an insult to our nation,’” Honorary Counsel Enrique Melendez is quoted by KGUN9. “Melendez insists that El Salvador respects American sovereignty and immigration law, and does not send illegal immigrants to the U.S.”

Some great “message art.” Put it in the same category as notable religious figures created out of feces.

[tnipoll]

What do you think?

Do you buy the jive that the billboard is “message art” and not meant to be harmful?

Have you seen other blatant misconceptions posted on signs and billboards?

What’s your least favorite billboard around town?