By Lindsay Walker
Mail | Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

A woman was taken into custody on Tuesday night after barricading herself in an RV at Tempe Marketplace, according to police.

Officers with the Mesa Police Department originally responded to a call at Mesa’s Riverview Park about a possible assault on a park ranger. 

A car had left the park and headed west on Rio Salado where it came to a stop in the Tempe Marketplace in the Target parking lot. 

When officers tried to contact the person inside, now identified as Laci Ann Clarke, she refused to come out of the RV. Mesa and Tempe police officers were on the scene attempting to make contact with her and resolve the situation for over 40 minutes.

Officers eventually spotted the Clarke leaving the RV and, after a brief struggle, she was taken into custody. 

“It appears the suspect may have some mental health issues and those are being addressed,” said Richard Encinas, a spokesperson with Mesa PD. 

According to the arrest form, Clarke was contacted at Mesa’s Sloan Park, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs, for a parking violation but drove away from park rangers. They asked her to stop and she did not comply, hitting a ranger with the steps of her RV. 

Clarke has been charged with two counts of endangerment and one count of failure to comply with a police officer. 

Lindsay Walker

News Editor | Tempe | lwalker@iniusa.org

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Lindsay is a Phoenix native and is thrilled to be reporting in her hometown.

After spending several years in advertising after college, she switched gears and graduated with her master’s degree in journalism at Arizona State University in 2019.

When she’s not writing, you can usually find her reading a book or playing with her family’s dogs.

 

By Lindsay Walker
Mail | Twitter: @AzNewsmedia