The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Fountain Hills made a transition during 2014 as Capt. Joe Rodriquez was promoted and replaced as District 7 Commander by Capt. Dave Letourneau.

Rodriquez’s promotion to deputy chief for patrol operations was announced in July with Letourneau coming in soon after.

That prompted some members of the Town Council to wonder whether proper procedure was followed in finding a replacement for Rodriquez.

Letourneau was one of three candidates recommended by MCSO and vetted by town management before the assignment was finalized.

At about the same time the transfers were taking place an unusual series of events took place in Fountain Hills.

Late in June the body of an Oregon woman visiting in town was found in a pickup truck in the parking lot of a busy shopping center.

It took several months before a medical examiner’s report indicated the woman’s death was probably related to heat combined with alcohol and possibly an underlying medical condition.

She was staying with a friend in town and borrowed his pickup to travel to Chandler for a job interview and was reported missing late that evening. Deputies found the pickup and her body during the course of their investigation at a local shopping center.

On July 13, a Fountain Hills man was shot and killed by a Sheriff’s deputy during a scuffle that took place as the deputy attempted to get out of his patrol vehicle. The shooting took place as the man reportedly attempted to get the deputy’s gun.

The encounter was the result of deputies responding to a report of a naked man in the street obstructing traffic and frightening motorists.

The deputy involved in the shooting was a lieutenant serving as overnight watch commander. He was the first to make contact with the suspect after the call.

Neighbors were concerned by another incident in which Sheriff’s deputies and DEA agents served a search warrant on a home barely a block from an elementary school.

DEA was following up on information received from a previous incident and called on MCSO for assistance.

In another incident, a Fort McDowell man was severely beaten at a Fountain Hills hotel. The victim had gone to a room at the hotel for a party when an altercation took place leaving the man near death.

As of the end of the year the case is still open.

Residents living in the Four Peaks area of town were alarmed by reports that someone had attempted to abduct two young children playing along the street on a quiet Sunday morning.

The children were not injured and deputies followed up on reports of one or two similar incidents in the same neighborhood. Deputies were given a consistent vehicle description, but suspects were never located.