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Inset left: Zane Coolidge (Phoenix Police Department). Inset right: Saul Bal (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The scene of the crime (KTVK/KPHO).
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against an Arizona man accused of killing a cop responding to a call of a car break-in.
Saul Bal, 41, faces charges of first-degree murder and other charges related to the death of Officer Zane Coolidge, 29. In addition to the murder charge, Bal faces charges of attempted murder, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a weapon by a prohibited person. Prosecutors have filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
The bloodshed happened on Sept. 3 near 16th Street and McDowell Road in Phoenix when Coolidge and a second officer, Matthew Haney, responded to a call of someone breaking into a vehicle. That person, who police said was Bal, ran and jumped a fence into a backyard when the officers arrived. He shot at the officers, hitting both before he was arrested.
Haney, 31, was hospitalized before going home to recover from his wounds.
Coolidge died at a hospital on Sept. 6.
“The men and women in blue are heroes,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said. “It is unthinkable that someone would take one of their lives. The person who took Officer Coolidge’s life will be held accountable.”
At Coolidge’s funeral, his wife, Kristen, said her husband was “one of the good ones.” Coolidge had been on the Phoenix police force for five years. His daughter was 5 months old when her father was killed.
The city remembered Coolidge as an amazing husband, father, son, brother, friend and beloved member of the Phoenix Police Department. His flag-wrapped body was driven through the streets of Phoenix for a police motorcade funeral procession.
“Officer Coolidge’s legacy will forever be a part of this Department,” Interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael G. Sullivan said. “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.”
Local news group Arizona’s Family identified 40 criminal charges against Bal over the past 17 years.
Bal was on parole from the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry at the time of the shootings, with his term expected to end on Sept. 23, 2024, officials said.
He had previously been sentenced to prison multiple times in Arizona and served two years in a California jail, The Associated Press reported.
Bal is expected to appear in court on March 6, online records show.