Mesa police get tough on suspects

By Christina Leonard

August 22, 2000 Web posted at: 2:50 PM EDT (1850 GMT)

MESA, Arizona (The Arizona Republic Online) -- The Mesa woman was a typical stalking victim: She didn't think the police could help her.

Even after she'd taken out an order of protection, her stalker kept coming back, always leaving her with bruises. By the time police showed up, he was long gone.

So Mesa police decided to try something new. They armed the woman with a cellular phone and set up camp outside her apartment.

"And here he comes," Sgt. Allen Moore said. "We ran out of the bushes and arrested him on her doorstep. We scared the heck out of him and sent him to jail."

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Thomas Pastrano Nixon, 36, was the first of five cases in which Mesa police have essentially "stalked the stalkers" in an effort to stop recurring violence.

"It's a very new concept," Moore said. "We've transformed our domestic violence detectives to being proactive."

Both victims and police get frustrated when suspects repeatedly violate orders of protection, but cannot be found by police or proved to have violated the order.

"They (victims) know in their hearts that there's things happening. Things are being moved around their house, they're getting 15 hang-up calls at night, he happens to be at the same grocery store they're at, but they have no videotape, no proof," said Suzanne Marigliano, a local domestic violence specialist. "The police, their hands are tied."

Last year, however, new laws beefed up punishment for repeat domestic violence offenders and strengthened measures against stalking and harassment.

"Now we have a documented record of what's going on, and it's a felony arrest instead of misdemeanor," Detective Tom Thomas said. "It has more teeth; it has more bite."

Although other departments applaud Mesa's efforts and would like to follow them, the stakeouts require a lot of manpower. This is not always feasible for departments like Phoenix that are already overloaded with cases, Phoenix Sgt. Leonard Pinuelas said.

But Moore said the payoff is worth it, especially considering the high number of repeat offenders terrorizing victims.

"A lot of times, we were frustrated because it was a 'he said, she said' thing," Moore said. "So we put our heads together; now we're empowering the victims to become survivors. And they have witnesses."

In another case, a woman obtained an order of protection against her attacker that forbade him from contacting her in any way, according to a police report.

But while in jail for violating the order, Shad Sellers, 37, sent her at least 19 letters. When he got out of jail, he went straight to her house. Police set up surveillance and re-arrested Sellers when he returned later that day.

Mesa police hope their new tactics will bolster victims' confidence in the system. A recent Justice Department study found that 100 percent of the stalking victims who didn't report their cases to police didn't believe the police could do anything about it. Most also didn't think police would believe them.

Marigliano said the steps Mesa is taking have been positive for both police and victims.

"The victims feel heard," she said. "They think, 'I'm not crazy. It really is happening.'"

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