Mesa's nationwide search for a new police chief has been narrowed to five Valley candidates - three Mesa assistant chiefs and two candidates from Phoenix.

A 22-year-old man described as a social outcast with wild beliefs steeped in mistrust faces a federal court hearing Monday on charges he tried to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a Tucson shooting rampage that left six people dead.

Thieves using a stolen forklift took another ATM in Mesa early Monday morning, according to police spokeswoman Holly Hosac.

A Mesa man was shot to death amid a brawl that included hammers, machetes and brass knuckles at a Tucson hard-core metal concert Wednesday night, police said.

A Mesa man was shot to death amid a brawl that included hammers, machetes and brass knuckles at a Tucson hard-core metal concert Wednesday night, police said.

The man suspected of killing his ex-wife at a Mesa restaurant and shooting her parents in their Tempe home was captured Saturday night in central Phoenix. Wen Lie Zhang, 41, was booked into the Mesa City Jail then transported to Maricopa County Jail this morning, according to Mesa Police spokeswoman Holly Hosac.

An anonymous caller and a savvy 911 dispatcher led police to a Tempe man accused of killing his ex-wife and shooting her parents.

An anonymous caller and a savvy 911 dispatcher led police to a Tempe man accused of killing his ex-wife and shooting her parents.

Mesa police are asking for the public’s help in locating or identifying a man who abducted a woman at the main Mesa Public Library on Friday and remains on the loose.

Gloom, doom and a cashpoor police department. That was the forecast offered by those recently touting tax hikes in Mesa.

The Mesa Police Department has become the third police force in Arizona to join the Major City Chiefs Association, giving the department a voice in efforts to address national policing issues.

Mesa needs to start planning now -- and finding ways to pay for -- new police officers, equipment and facilities if it hopes to keep up with rapid population growth and an influx of new businesses.

Mesa will take a closer look at motorized play vehicles that have already been banned by Phoenix and Tucson. The Mesa Police Department is preparing a report on scooters and pocket bikes for an upcoming City Council discussion.

In a last-minute move Monday, the Mesa City Council delayed a decision to sell seized firearms to licensed gun dealers pending a liability case before the Arizona Supreme Court this month.

Searchers found a missing 85-year-old Mesa woman Wednesday in a remote area outside of Tucson.

Back in March, an undercover Mesa police detective was asked to speak at the state Capitol about how the national immigration debate was providing fuel for hate groups and violent extremists in Arizona.

Cox Communications and Mesa are tangled in an escalating battle over the cable company’s operating license, which expires in September.

A man suspected of abducting a woman at the main Mesa library last Thursday has been taken into custody in South Carolina.

A man who was sought on "America's Most Wanted" in connection with a 2007 Tucson killing has been arrested.

Mesa police announced Thursday the arrest of a man in Tucson in connection with a weekend shooting at an East Valley night club that left one man dead and two injured.

Mesa police are asking the City Council today to approve a crime-fighting program that can be described as a sophisticated form of Google.

A suspect arrested in the death of a man and the shooting of several people at a downtown Mesa nightclub admitted to police that he fired at the group and that he has lived in the country illegally for 13 years, arrest records show.

Wenlie Zhang had been divorced for 1 1/2 years, but bitterness against his ex-wife lingered. Court documents detail his fights with Jianyun Zhao over custody of their 9-year-old son, child support, parenting time and debt payment. There was a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday — but Zhang never showed.

Despite Mesa's more than 5 percent decrease in serious crimes in 2007, the city's violent crime rate actually went up.