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Police teamwork leads to arrest
On June 7, 2009 at 3:30 p.m., a 45 year-old male victim was performing light contracting work on several houses in the neighborhood of 9800 North 18th Street when he was approached by a man he didn’t know. Without reason or provocation, this person suddenly “punched” the victim in the neck. It was only after he felt blood gushing down this chest and back that he realized he had been stabbed in the neck.
On July 2, 2009 at about 11:30 p.m., Pamela Marie Britton-Page, 42, was standing on a sidewalk near the apartment complex at 1643 East Mountain View Road, when she was approached by an unknown male who made a comment and then – in a punching motion – stabbed her in the throat. Pamela’s carotid artery was punctured; she rapidly lost blood and inevitably, consciousness. As of early August, she has remained in a coma and is not expected to survive.
Phoenix Police Assault Detective Audra Vanzant received the Mountain View case and recognizing the seriousness of Britton-Page’s injuries, as well as the need to apprehend the person responsible for her brutal stabbing, promptly set out to reconstruct the sequence of events which had left an innocent woman clinging for life.
After a lot of work and effort to solve this case, Detective Vanzant was forced to face the reality that there were few good leads in this investigation and very little evidence to identify the suspect.
With the support of her supervisor, Sergeant Sonny Hudson, Detective Vanzant partnered with Silent Witness and returned to the scene of the crime. She donned her walking shoes, canvassing the entire neighborhood on foot, and handed out flyers door-to-door to elicit help from the community.
As a result of her efforts, Detective Vanzant received information on a possible suspect. She undertook an exhaustive research effort and eventually located the June 7th stabbing incident, which had been assigned to Phoenix Police Department Assaults Detective Rachel Scherer.
Working together, in less than 24 hours, Detectives Vanzant and Scherer confirmed the identity of the suspect and established probable cause for his arrest. They then turned to their counterparts in the Phoenix Police Department’s Major Offender Bureau to facilitate the suspect’s arrest.
Major Offender Bureau investigators coordinated the arrest of 42 year-old Frederick Taylor at 11:00 p.m. on August 6th at 6108 W. Michigan Avenue. A search warrant was served at that address where several key items of evidentiary value were seized and impounded.
Taylor was booked into jail on counts of Attempt Homicide (First Degree) and Aggravated Assault.
This great effort by all Phoenix Police Department investigators led to the arrest of a dangerous suspect. And let’s not forget the citizen who came forward with information on the suspect in this case. Citizen involvement is critical to solving crimes. If you have information about crimes, you can call Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS and remain anonymous.