BREAKING NEWS: Be Aware - the people who assaulted a security guard yesterday are on-the-loose
TUCSON RESIDENTS: This Was Preventable.
Yesterday's face of Tucson/Pima County Failing, Political, Elected Officials
At approximately 1:40 a.m. on July 2, a trained, uniformed security officer patrolling a gas station near 29th Street and Craycroft was brutally assaulted while doing his job. According to TreeStone Security Services' incident report, the officer contacted a group of roughly four men loitering on private property near the bus stop, allegedly smoking suspected illegal narcotics, and advised them they were trespassing and needed to leave.
One of them punched him in the face. The others joined in, knocking him to the ground and continuing the assault. One suspect threw what appeared to be a metal pipe, striking the officer in the face and lacerating his lip. He was beaten badly enough that when he radioed for help, he gave the wrong location — likely concussed. Good Samaritans pulled him out of the roadway and stayed with him until the ambulance arrived. He was treated at a hospital and is now recovering at home. Tucson Police are investigating (Report #P2607020011), and the suspects remain at large.
Stop and consider what that means. This wasn't a resident caught off guard walking to their car. This was a professional — someone trained in de-escalation, situational awareness, and personal defense — and he still ended up bloodied on the pavement. If trained security personnel aren't safe addressing this activity, what does that say about the risk to everyday residents, employees, and business owners?
Here's the detail that should make every Tucsonan angry: according to company records, one of the individuals believed to be involved had already been issued multiple trespass notices and had been detained on prior occasions for criminal trespassing on this same property. He was documented. He was known. And he was still there at 1:40 in the morning — because in today's Tucson, there are no real consequences.
This didn't happen in a vacuum. It's the predictable result of city policy.
For years, the City of Tucson has tolerated open-air drug use at bus stops, transit centers, washes, and commercial corridors. Note where this assault happened: on private property adjacent to a bus stop, where the suspects were reportedly smoking narcotics in the open. Residents see this every day. Business owners deal with it every day. Yet enforcement is minimal, consequences are rare, and the same individuals cycle right back onto the same properties — emboldened, not deterred. This case proves it: repeat trespass notices, prior detentions, and he came back anyway.
At the same time, the city's fare-free bus system operates with no meaningful accountability. We support transit access for working Tucsonans, students, and seniors. But a free system with no enforcement of conduct rules has become a citywide conveyor belt — and our bus stops have become staging areas for the loitering and open drug use that led directly to this attack. The problem isn't confined to one part of town anymore. It can arrive at your business or your street on the next bus.
Property owners are left to hire private security at their own expense — and now we've seen what those officers are up against when the city refuses to address the underlying lawlessness.
In the meantime, protect yourself:
• Stay a safe distance from suspicious or criminal activity.
• Do not confront individuals who may become violent — this attack proves how quickly situations escalate, even for professionals.
• Report emergencies to 911 and non-emergency incidents to the appropriate authorities. Every report creates a record the city cannot ignore.
• Business owners: review your security measures, document incidents and trespassers on your property, and encourage employees to report suspicious activity promptly.
And hold your leaders accountable.
Don't expect City Hall to share this story. Acknowledging it would mean acknowledging that the policies they've championed — unconditional free transit, tolerance of open drug use at bus stops, and hands-off enforcement — have consequences. This week, those consequences put a working man in the hospital.
Every Tucsonan deserves to feel safe at a bus stop, a gas station, a grocery store, or their own property. Public safety isn't a partisan issue — it's the most basic obligation of city government, and right now it's not being met.
Stay alert. Look out for your neighbors. Make your voice heard with local leaders — and at the ballot box.
Follow the Tucson Crime Free Coalition to stay informed about public safety issues affecting Tucson.
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You are asking & We are delivering
The Tucson Crime Free Coalition has had a significant number of requests from community members and business owners asking how The City of Tucson works and who to contact with concerns, problems and or questions. We have also found that many residents are unsure of which Ward they live in. To help with this, we have included in this newsletter a City Ward Map so you can easily identify your direct council representatives although we recommend contacting ALL of them with your concerns and questions.
To help residents take action, we have compiled a complete list of the Mayor and City Council along with their contact information. We encourage you to reach out directly and share what you are experiencing. You are more than welcome to include and provide pictures and movies for proof that you have. This can include but is not limited to
● Trespassing on private property
● Encampments
● Fires set on public property
● Street Racing
● Boarded-up or abandoned buildings
● Businesses closing due to on-going crime
● Safety concerns for yourself, your children or grandchildren
● Poor road conditions
● Concerns about the Cities $2,410,000,000 budget and them not being able to control spending
● Free Buses and the problems that has created
● The drug addiction and mental illness problem all over Tucson
We strongly encourage you to email The Mayor and all of the Council, so they can receive a full and accurate picture of what is happening across the whole city and hopefully see that this is not normal. This is one of the most effective ways to communicate concerns - and it ensures you have a record that your voice was heard. We have made this very easy - all you need to do is “copy and paste” all of the email addresses into the To: section of your email.
Copy and Paste these email addresses into the To: section of your email:mayor.romero@tucsonaz.gov, ward1@tucsonaz.gov, ward2@tucsonaz.gov,ward3@tucsonaz.gov, ward4@tucsonaz.gov, ward5@tucsonaz.gov, ward6@tucsonaz.gov, help@tucsoncrimefree.com
The solutions are obvious- we need to become politically involved.
This forum has established credible clout- its inspiring- surely there are candidates that we can back- its mind boggling that the Queen and council remain without real challenge.
If nothing else, can billboards, social media, and other in your face advertizing be funded ( maybe even get help as PSA ?) there must be a way to reverse the insanity.
I encountered a homeless Fentanyl addict when I arrived at my business on Monday morning drugged out. He was hallucinating and threatening a couple of my employees with erratic and unpredictable behavior. I had to lock down the building to protect my staff and then try to diffuse him until TPD was able to respond. This was not small frail junkie, this was young mid twenties – 6 foot tall stocky man. I’m 58 year old veteran and fortunately I’m not frail either. I was able to keep him away from the building by playing into his delusion in order to keep him engaged.
Last month on a Monday morning we arrived to find we had no water service, our exposed plumbing had been cut off for its scrap value. With thst went out back flow meter. The repair cost us over $2,000 because the new meter we had to purchase in order (to be compliant) had to be installed by a certified installer. Then we had to build cages to cover that plumbing so they would have to work harder next time they come looking for businesses to raid.
A year ago we came in again on a Monday and our plumbing in the rear fenced area of our business as well as the lower portion of our air-conditioner had been stolen. That cost about $3,500.00 as I recall (after my deductible I got $2,500 as I recall). I filed a claim wirh my insurance which they paid. When I came up for renewal the insurance company said they would drop us if we couldn’t prove we had taken additional measures to improve security. I had to move the lower unit of the AC to the roof, add spot lights, replace my copper plumbing with rubber hose in order to demonstrate thst we had protected our equipment properly. The accepted my repairs and the increased my coverage by several hundred dollars a month. They recouped their full payout in about 12 months. My agent told me I that you should only make insurance claims when I can’t afford the repair out of pocket. He said many insurance companies cancel you if you use you insurance.
We had added security cameras out front about a year ago, it is just that these drug addled junkies don’t really care.
We are a small manufacturer here in Tucson who has been here for over 30 years. I ask myself frequently, who is looking out for small businesses who provide jobs, buy locally and pay taxes like us?
Instead they take our tax revenues and buy old hotels like the Amazon Hotel on Miracle Mile and turn it into homeless, junkie central. Now with these folks housed right down the street from us, I’m sure I can look forward to even more theft and danger.
How do city officials not see the absurdity of their approach to the homeless situation.
Welcome to the Peoples Republic of Tucson!
This is sad. The Mayor and all her staff should be made to ride in a police car every evening from 8PM to 6AM for one week.
I hope the injured security man will recover from his terrible beating. Here’s a man trying to earn a living and these monsters harm him. They all need to be locked up for a very long time.
Until there are “field trips” by local politicians to understand the reality of crimes committed against nature, people, animals, or property in their wards, the clueless, deer-in-the-headlights responses will continue and no action to change will occur. Maybe the offer of a donut or an extra day off with pay would sweeten the prospect of a “field trip”.
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