At 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, a Mammoth-San Manuel District school bus was in the process of dropping children off at a bus stop. A male approached the bus with a pipe wrench and broke out a passenger side window, injuring a child inside the bus. The bus driver took precautions and immediately drove out of the area and headed to the Mammoth Police Station.
Mammoth Police and Fire Department personnel began to investigate. The child was treated for glass cuts and released to parents.
A witness reported the male was seen on San Manuel Dr. in Mammoth. Mammoth Police requested assistance from Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputies and officers and deputies from both agencies conducted an extensive search of the area and located the male at a house on River Road.
According to the Mammoth Police Department, when contacted, the suspect stood in the doorway of the residence holding a hatchet and refusing to exit. After the suspect was positively identified by witnesses, Mammoth Police wrote a search warrant for the suspect and the structure.
PCSO SWAT was called in. The suspect surrendered during negotiations and was booked into county jail on multiple felony offenses.
The man, who has not been identified by Mammoth Police, has been charged with aggravated endangerment to a child under 15, aggravated assault and criminal damage.
Mammoth Police Department would like to recognize that the safe and timely resolution of this situation was made possible through the combined efforts of the community, PCSO, Mammoth Fire Department, and the Mammoth-San Manuel School District.
View video courtesy of PCSO here.