ABC15 Investigators confirm violent AZ crime associated with ATF Fast and Furious Case

PHOENIX - The ABC15 Investigators have learned a weapon connected to the controversial Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Fast and Furious case was found at the scene of a 2010 violent crime in Maricopa, AZ.

Bart Graves, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, confirms officers found two weapons, an AK-47 and a Beretta pistol, inside a stolen truck in March 2010 after a driver trying to evade members of the Arizona Vehicle Theft Task Force slammed the stolen vehicle into two DPS vehicles.

The AK-47 is linked to the Fast and Furious case, according to the ATF.

Last week, the Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said three weapons linked to the Fast and Furious case were used in violent crimes in the United States.

Two of the weapons turned up at the Arizona murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

As part of the Fast and Furious case, Phoenix ATF agents recently testified that they knowingly allowed weapons to slip into the hands of straw buyers who would then distribute the weapons to known criminals.

THE STOLEN VEHICLE

Police arrested the driver of the stolen truck where the AK-47 was found, Angel Hernandez Diaz, on March 4, 2010.

According to court paperwork , he’s accused of and charged with multiple crimes, including unlawful flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, aggravated assault on an officer with a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon, theft of means of transportation, and misconduct involving a weapon.

Hernandez Diaz is accused of stealing a Ford F-350 truck. Undercover police tracked him on SR 347 as he traveled towards Maricopa.

When officers attempted to pull him over by turning on their emergency lights, Hernandez Diaz is accused of ramming two AZDPS vehicles and a civilian vehicle.

Officers used spike strips to stop the vehicle, but sources told ABC15 the driver and the passenger continued to drive, eventually running from the disabled truck.

SHOT FIRED

The ABC15 Investigators have also learned Hernandez Diaz is accused of pointing his weapon at an AZDPS officer. The officer fired a shot at the suspect but did not strike him.

Officers eventually captured Hernandez Diaz and the passenger who were hiding in different places.

Hernandez Diaz is currently in the Pinal County Jail.  He is scheduled to appear in a Pinal County courtroom in October 2011.

OTHER GUNS

Earlier in the summer, the ABC15 Investigators linked nearly 50 weapons to non-violent crimes in the Phoenix and Glendale area.