By Matthew Holloway |
One Phoenix Police officer is dead and another remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Phoenix Police Officers Zane Coolidge and Matthew Haney were dispatched to a call of a suspect attempting to break into a vehicle on Tuesday, September 3 at 6:30 p.m. On encountering the suspect identified as Saul Bal, 41, the officers attempted to approach him but the suspect fled on foot. After the brief pursuit he turned and opened fire at the officers striking and wounding them both. Although one officer returned fire, the suspect was not hit.
Bal fled the scene and was later apprehended nearby. Both officers were rushed to a Banner University Medical Center, with Haney stable, but Coolidge in critical condition. Officer Zane Coolidge succumbed to his injuries Friday.
According to a statement from the Phoenix Police Department, Officer Haney was released from the hospital Wednesday, having been reportedly protected from more serious injury by his ballistic vest. However after days of battling his injuries, Interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan announced, “The injuries he sustained after the cowardly acts of another were too much for him to overcome.”
As reported by AZ Family, investigating officers located a firearm they believe was used by Bal and the suspect was booked into Maricopa County Jail on multiple felony charges including two counts of attempted murder with his bond set at $2 million. Phoenix officials also said he has a lengthy criminal history with the outlet noting his previous convictions for attempted burglary and drug-related crimes in Arizona over the past two decades, and was under parole conditions set to expire Thursday.
Phoenix Law Enforcement Association President Darrell Kriplean told reporters, “I don’t really want to talk about the suspect because he doesn’t deserve our breath, but I will tell you that it’s infuriating that someone with a long criminal history like his would be allowed to be out amongst the community and continue, I mean he has demonstrated that he’s a drain on society, not a positive influence.”
Per reporting from the Associated Press, there was no information readily available on additional charges against Bal following Zane’s death.
Additional reporting from AZ Family revealed that Bal has been arrested and charged over forty times in the past 17 years, but somehow managed to avoid serious penalties for his crimes in most instances. Three of those charges were within the past 24 months.
The report specifically noted that an official with the Phoenix PD told AZ Family investigative reporters that on May 4th, Bal was booked on two felony charges of drug possession and a misdemeanor trespassing charge. However, prosecutors with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office withheld criminal charges pending the results of a lab test on pills found on the ground near Bal. The drug test results were reportedly never given to the prosecutors, but Phoenix PD questioned why he wasn’t charged based on the field-tested methamphetamines that were found in his possession as well. No charges were filed against the suspect. Though MCAO told reporters that he would’ve been released on recognizance anyhow.
Bal had previously served three months of a six month sentence in Navajo County for possession of drug paraphernalia and shoplifting before making his way back to Phoenix. He was released in July. Had he served his full sentence, the outlet observed that he would have still been in prison at the time of the murder.
Chief Sullivan said in a statement, “Officer Coolidge’s family is dealing with unimaginable grief. We will do everything we can to help them through their darkest hours, and we pledge that they will always be a part of the Phoenix Police Family. I ask that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers.”
Matthew Holloway is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
