The year got off to a quick start for big stories related to public safety in the community.

Possibly one of the biggest news stories to occur in Fountain Hills began on Jan. 7, 2019 when then 18-year-old Ismail Hamed was shot in a confrontation with a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy in the parking lot outside Town Hall.

Hamed survived his wounds and was eventually charged with two counts of terrorism after the FBI entered the investigation. He allegedly confronted the deputy on the premise of wanting to make a statement related to turmoil in the Middle East. Hamed is accused of throwing rocks at the deputy sergeant and threatening him with a knife, prompting the deputy to shoot him.

The investigation alleges that Hamed was radicalized by ISIS to commit violence against authority.

Hamed was released from jail in early October. He is under restrictive electronic monitoring pending his trial, which is currently set for May 2020.

Bashaw sentence

One of the major incidents in town during 2018 was closed out in July 2019 when Alex Bashaw was sentenced. Bashaw was driving a vehicle that struck and killed four pedestrians at Saguaro and Palisades boulevards near Fountain Park in March 2018.

Investigators determined that Bashaw was speeding and likely distracted at the time of the collision. He was charged with manslaughter but pleaded guilty to four counts of negligent homicide.

Bashaw was sentenced to six years in prison for each of the four counts against him, to be served concurrently. He received credit for the 375 days he was incarcerated prior to his sentencing.

The sentencing was an emotionally charged event with family members of the four victims as well as Bashaw’s family testifying to the impact of the incident on the lives of so many.

Fatal crash

In April two men died when the helicopter they were testing crashed in a farm field on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

Witnesses heard a boom and saw the aircraft go down in flames about 7 a.m. on April 16.

The deceased were identified as the pilot, Runcie Moore, an experienced helicopter test pilot and instructor for the Embry-Riddle University Prescott campus. The passenger was identified Stephen Estes, an engineer with Van Horn Aviation of Tempe.

Moore was an Army veteran and decorated test pilot with the Army. Estes was the engineering manager with the aviation company.

They were testing roto designs developed by Van Horn Aviation when the helicopter went down.

Street safety

Inspired mostly by the Bashaw crash as well as other traffic incidents during 2018 – which included one other fatality – the town set out to develop an aggressive traffic safety agenda. This included the appointment of staff and council members to a safety committee to develop solutions.

During the past year efforts on the streets have included implementing technology to provide greater visibility for some stop sign intersections, traffic calming street markings and greater efforts to inform where wrong-way driving has been an issue.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has also worked aggressively to enforce traffic laws related to speeding and other moving violations.

The results have been positive. Although traffic collisions remain an issue, there have been no pedestrian fatalities.

Vehicle fatality

In August a young Scottsdale man died when the vehicle in which he was a passenger crashed on McDowell Mountain Road north of Fountain Hills.

The car was traveling southbound when the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled into the desert and caught fire. A small brush fire resulted from the car fire, which was extinguished quickly.

Two others in the vehicle were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Sheriff’s investigators believe speed was a factor in the crash.