CourierAZ.com

Saturday, May 19, 2007

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PRESCOTTPolice are looking for a man they say attacked two members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps as they videotaped and photographed him picking up day laborers Friday at the corner of Lincoln and Grove avenues.
At 9 a.m., the driver of the pickup pulling a U-Haul trailer became agitated when he saw the men with cameras and he assaulted one of them, said Prescott Police Lt. Ken Morley.
The driver took the digital camera from the Minuteman and threw it into a nearby creek.
He also tried unsuccessfully to take the video camera away from the other Minuteman, Morley said.
The men were photographing the area, which attracts people looking for day work, because they believe it is illegal to employ workers they suspect are illegal immigrants, Morley said. “They are putting a case together,” he said.
Dan Pedersen, owner of the nearby Classic Barrel and Gunworks, saw part of the incident, which happened in front of his shop. He said he gave the minutemen permission to film from his property twice a week because “they are reporting people employing those day-workers.”
He said he saw “an unidentified man chasing one of the minutemen.
“The attacker was swinging and the minuteman was retracting as fast as he could,” Pedersen said.
Pedersen called 911 and within minutes, four police cars arrived.
“They were here quickly and they were here in force,” Pedersen said.
The suspect left before officers arrived. Pedersen said the suspect’s vehicle had no business marking on it, and, according to Morley, he most likely was a citizen seeking day workers to help him with his move.
Pedersen said the minuteman with the video camera recorded the incident.
A man phoned The Daily Courier saying he was with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and was involved in the incident. He declined to reveal his name and other incident-related details including the reason he was photographing day workers. He said the police obtained his statement and the video footage.
Morley said if they catch the suspect, he could face two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of criminal damage.
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