My View
BY DON SORCHYCH | JUNE 1, 2016
ARSON, overtime for decisions
Hogs and Horses
I promised last week to explore the delay of the Buffalo Chip arson case by the arson division of Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
The Chip was torched on Thanksgiving Day in 2015. It was immediately labeled arson by MCSO and Rural/Metro.
Time is of the essence since MCSO policy is to abandon investigations after 12 months. The case is now over six months old.
That is inexcusable!
Let me say now I am a fan of Joe Arpaio, hope he gets reelected and that the feds back off on the political persecution of our elected official. What the fed is doing I have no doubt goes all the way to the oval office of Barack Hussein Obama. If Judge Snow indicts him I am sure there will be an appeal and if he loses President Trump will pardon Arpaio in a heartbeat.
Rumors abound but there are many consistencies.
A woman was in the Chip the night before Thanksgiving and security and she were at odds over smoking on premises. There were rumors there was also “racist talk” because she is black and claims she said she would burn the place down.
She left the Chip and went to the Circle K across the street where she bought cigarettes and a lighter. That transaction is on video. Later, video picked her up entering the Chip with the night cleaning crew. The fire was later discovered to have been started in the ladies’ room where toilet paper was ignited.
Rural/Metro arrived and put out the fire and declared it an arson attempt. Here is where the story gets sticky. One official told me he was sure the fire was put out, so someone had to have started a second fire. Others said they were told there was some regret they didn’t use a scanning tool to see if the fire had spread from the lady’s room up to ceiling inflammables. Most people connected with the Chip believe there was one fire and it spread from the restroom.
So it begins to look like MCSO is covering Rural/Metro’s back, doesn’t it? It looks to me like Wendt, a 24 year veteran of MCSO is being played. Is he getting the run around? Six months is a long time and in six months more it is history.
The woman who is at the center of this mess does Karaoke and delivers rental cars, especially to Las Vegas where she supposedly is now. What if anything has been done with her by MCSO is unknown.
There were questions about whether Hogs N’ Horses (HNH) was involved since animosity existed between T.C. Thorstenson and Larry Wendt since Wendt investigated Thorstenson when his wife drowned, But as I told Thorstenson some time ago, Wendt found him innocent so what’s the problem? I also heard Thorstenson has a concrete alibi and the woman in question performed Karaoke at HNH. However, that is another rumor.
Whatever the truth is, MCSO has a responsibility to keep the public informed and find and arrest the arsonist. I receive phone calls and emails all week long on this issue alone. Citizens are angry about losing the Chip, even if it is temporary, and concerned there is an arsonist in their town.
Hello MCSO arson?
Unrelated HNH news
Rumors fly about the pending sale of HNH now given legs because of a summer closure sign, “Closed for the summer ONLY.” All of the animals have been removed. Now we see the huge conveyance used to transport livestock has been removed from HNH.
Town Hall received a copy of the following notice provided to HNH employees from “TC and Hollie:”
“I was going to call each of you, as we were waiting on confirmation before we made this decision. But, I thought this will be much easier and you can call me as soon as you have time. TC now has booked contracts to go back on the road with his buffalo show. We will be spending some time on the East Coast and quite a few places in between this summer with his buffalo.
So as a result, we have decided to close the bar as of tonight, for the summer. I apologize to you all for such short notice. But as I said, we were waiting on his show dates to confirm before we made a decision. You all are such a great team and we enjoy working with you so much and want to thank you for all you do for Hogs and Horses, and for us. You guys are all so great, this is a hard decision to make, as you have all became family to us, but as you know, summers here are pretty quiet so we thought this would be the best decision to make at this point, especially while he has the opportunity to get back on the road with his buffalo. When we get re-open this fall, we would love to have you all back with us, if you desire to do so. I will have paychecks for you on Wednesday, so call me anytime after that and I will meet you here to get your check.
“Thank you all so much for everything!
“TC and Hollie”
As far as we know the pending purchase of HGN by an out of state investor is still active and development agreements are under consideration by the town, pending the final outcome.
