Several police officers from the Desert Horizon Precinct, whose coordinated efforts led to the arrest of two murder suspects, were honored by the Kiwanis Club of Sunnyslope on Dec. 10.
A routine traffic stop by officers Sutton Wohlman and Allen Nosal in the early morning hours of Dec. 6 eventually led to the arrest of the driver, Angela Simpson, after it was discovered she was wanted in connection with an armed robbery and auto theft just hours earlier.
Officer Kevin Linn was the responding officer to that armed robbery report, and Wohlman and Nosal assisted in that investigation as well. Officer Jason Lowry arrived and assisted by processing the scene for physical evidence and latent prints.
Simpson, after her arrest, refused to give up the names of her two male accomplices in the robbery. However, Officer Jennifer Kaarup had prior contact with Simpson in an unrelated May event, and knew Simpson associated with a group of white supremacists. Kaarup begin to search several law enforcement databases to try to identify the other two suspects.
On Aug. 7, a transient flagged down Wohlman and told him the word on the street was that Simpson and one of the male suspects were involved in a recent homicide where the body was found burn inside a dumpster at 9th and Peoria avenues. Wohlman forwarded the information to the Violent Crimes Bureau and completed an incident report.
Wohlman and Nosal continued the investigation by obtaining the address of the location given by the informant as the possible scene of the homicide. When the address was cross-checked against Simpson’s known associates, the address came up as a match.
Edward McFarland eventually was taken into custody for homicide.
The officers commended for the listed incidents demonstrated tenacity and dedication to their jobs and the community. Rather than simply write a report and move on to the next call, these officers took it upon themselves to do what they could to help solve not only the armed robbery, but a horrific murder as well.
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