Gila Herald Staff Reports
SAFFORD — A 42-year-old local man is behind bars after a neighborhood vehicle burglary escalated into a barricaded standoff with law enforcement on Thursday morning, July 9.
According to a Graham County Sheriff’s Office press release, Wayne Mabbie Jones was taken into custody after Graham County Sheriff’s deputies were forced to deploy gas to extract him from his residence. He was then booked on burglary charges.
Witness Reports Trigger Investigation
The incident began at approximately 10:09 a.m. when Graham County Communications received a call from an alert neighbor. The caller reported seeing a man they recognized as Jones inside a truck parked in the driveway of a home in the 1100 block of W. Ocotilla Street. Knowing the property owners, the witness phoned authorities because Jones did not have permission to be on the property or inside the vehicle.
Upon arriving at the scene, deputies interviewed a second witness who confirmed seeing Jones inside the truck cab. The second witness described watching Jones make multiple trips from the truck to the end of the driveway, dropping off items near the street before eventually walking away from the scene with stolen property in his possession.
Empty Truck Cab and a Barricaded Suspect
Deputies contacted the property owners, who confirmed that the truck had been parked there for several years. They stated that no one, including Jones, had permission to enter the vehicle or remove its contents. The owners noted that the truck’s cab had been entirely full of valuable belongings, including camping gear and power tools.
When law enforcement inspected the vehicle, they found the cab completely emptied.
Following the trail, deputies proceeded to Jones’ residence, located on the street immediately north of the victim’s home. When deputies attempted to speak with Jones, he barricaded himself inside the home, refusing to come out and yelling at the officers to leave his property.
Standoff and SWAT Entry
Based on the explicit witness statements and the confirmation of stolen property from the victims, a judge granted an arrest warrant for Jones on the charge of burglary.
Deputies utilized a loudspeaker to announce the arrest warrant to Jones, ordering him to surrender peacefully and step outside. When he repeatedly ignored the commands, law enforcement deployed gas into the residence. Despite the chemical irritant, Jones still refused to surrender.
Deputies ultimately breached the home, located Jones hiding in the back of the residence, and placed him under arrest.
Jones was transported to the Graham County Sheriff’s Office for processing and later booked into the Graham County Jail on a burglary charge. Deputies subsequently obtained and executed a search warrant for his trailer home later that afternoon to recover the stolen camping gear and power tools.
