PHOENIX — A suspect was arrested Monday in connection with the shooting death of a man operating a photo radar unit in Phoenix, but police said it's too soon to know the motive.
Thomas Patrick Destories, a 68-year-old Phoenix man, was booked into Maricopa County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder after he made "incriminating statements," Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said.
It's unclear whether Destories has a lawyer.
Doug Georgianni, 51, was shot Sunday night as he operated a photo radar van on a Phoenix freeway and later died at a hospital.
Hill said investigators believe Destories pulled up behind the van and then slowly pulled alongside it and fired a gun multiple times, hitting Georgianni in the driver's seat. Investigators don't believe Destories knew Georgianni.
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Hill said Georgianni was on the phone with his wife when he was shot.
"It was a very tragic moment," Hill said. "You can imagine the horror for the widow."
Roger Vanderpool, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, called the crime "an act of coldblooded murder, pure and simple."
"Doug Georgianni was performing his job," he said. "Doug was performing a job in an effort to make the freeways safer for the public."
Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said the killing was one of the most senseless that he's seen during his career.
Authorities said they found Destories less than 24 hours after the killing because a Department of Public Safety officer recognized the suspect vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, in video footage taken by the photo radar camera.
DPS Lt. Mark Remsey said he lived about a mile from Destories' home for 14 years ending in 2002 and frequently saw Destories working on his two Suburbans.
"I just started putting things together," Remsey said, adding that he never knew Destories personally.
Police conducted surveillance on Destories' home, and said they saw him move a Suburban from the front of his house to the backyard. They arrested him soon after he left his home on a motorcycle.
Georgianni had worked for three months for RedFlex Traffic Systems Inc., which has a contract with DPS to operate photo-enforcement vehicles and fixed cameras on state highways.
