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Sgt. Armando Carbajal speaks to media after a Phoenix police officer was involved in shooting on Aug. 18, 2018.
Julian Hernandez, The Republic

Phoenix police have identified a man fatally shot by a Phoenix police officer over the weekend as 28-year-old Andres Arteaga. 

Officers were attempting to serve a felony warrant on Arteaga when they located him in the area of 15th and Southern avenues on Saturday afternoon. The bench warrant, issued Thursday, was for a missed court date stemming from a March case in which he allegedly fled police on a stolen motorcycle and fought with officers who tried to arrest him, records show.

Arteaga ran from police into a residential neighborhood Saturday, and officers chased him by car and on foot. 

At one point, an officer saw Arteaga trying to force his way into the side door of a garage at a home in the 1500 block of West Sunland Avenue, according to a Phoenix police statement.

“The officer approached the suspect and deployed his Taser towards the suspect,” the statement said. “At that time, the suspect drew a handgun from his front waistband. The officer shot the suspect, ending the threat.”

Police have not identified the officer who shot Arteaga but said he is a 42-year-old man who has been employed for 10 years with the Phoenix Police Department. 

Records show Arteaga had a history of run-ins with police. He was released in October from a five-year sentence with the Arizona Department of Corrections for two aggravated assault convictions.

Investigators in a pre-sentence report wrote that he had a history of drug use and wanted treatment. The report writer also said Arteaga’s mental-health history and rough upbringing were contributing factors to his criminal activity. 

Arteaga is the 33rd person to have been shot dead by law enforcement in Maricopa County in 2018, according to records compiled by The Arizona Republic

Saturday’s shooting also was the 35th involving a Phoenix Police Department officer.

The number of shootings has spiked past the department’s previous high for a calendar year of 31 set in 2013. There were 21 Phoenix Police Department shootings in 2017, 25 in 2016 and 17 in 2015, department data shows.

Including Saturday’s, fifteen of this year’s Phoenix police shootings were fatal and 33 involved armed people — 26 with handguns, two with replica guns, one with an officer’s firearm, and four with a knife or sword.

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8515, [email protected] or on Twitter: @pohl_jason. 

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