PRESCOTT VALLEY — The mother of a charter school student who was attacked in the school’s lunchroom is suing the parent’s of her daughter’s attacker, the school and a state oversight board over the incident.

The beating occurred at Achieve Academy in April 2008. That’s when another student struck Taylor Hedlund over the head with a metal chair and knocked her unconscious, according to the court complaint and previous news reports.

Hedlund’s mother, Kelly Hedlund, claims the attack was filmed by other students and posted on the Internet and MySpace.com.

In 2008, Taylor Hedlund told a reporter from KPHO Channel 5:

“I didn’t really expect her to ever want to fight me. She said she wanted to, but I didn’t think she was actually going to do it,” Taylor said.

Taylor said she thinks the attack was planned because another student had a cell phone camera ready and posted video of the attack on MySpace.com.

“What I don’t get is that, like, why would someone record that?” Taylor said. “It’s surprising. It’s mean.”

Based on those statements, Kelly Hedlund is suing the school and the agency that oversees it, the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools. In her complaint, she claims enough students apparently knew about the incident that school officials should have been aware of the attack. She also claims several recent cuts to the schools budget left fewer staff members in the lunchroom to prevent it.

As a result, she claims the district and school board was negligent, and that they should pay almost $6,000 in damages to cover her daughter’s medical bills. Hedlund is represented by Prescott lawyers Mark W. Drutz and Stacie B. Robb (Musgrove, Drutz & Kack).

YUMA — A Customs and Border Protection agent is suing the Department of Homeland Security, claiming other agents violated his constitutional rights during a recent search of his home.

In a court complaint filed Friday in federal court in Phoenix, Jimmy Slaughter, a K-9 handler at the San Luis port of entry, claims the agents entered his house last July without a search warrant while looking for a woman whose mail had been coming to Cook’s house for five years, according to press reports.

The Yuma Sun posted this story on the case yesterday. In it, Cook is quoted as saying in an affidavit:

“I was at home with my wife when the doorbell rang. I opened the door and noticed approximately seven uniformed ICE agents with vests and guns standing at my door. I could only see three unmarked cars in front of my home.

“I said what is up fellas? Not having a clue as to what was happening. The lead agent stated that, ‘We have received information that Guadalupe Uolla is residing at the residence.’ I opened the door to look at the paperwork and five entered my house.”

The Sun mentions this exchange after Slaughter’s wife, Shiela, was made to stand in the middle of the room:

“That is when I stated I was a K-9 handler at the port of entry. All of the agents stopped in their tracks looking at each other and the lead agent asked, ‘You are?’ I could tell they were confused and I asked to look at their file on the subject they were after.”

None of the sources interviewed by the Sun offered any comment. Check out the Sun’s story for more information.

CASA GRANDE — It was the second stop that did it. And it was the same sheriff’s deputy.

As a result, Sergio Ornelas Cruz is suing Pinal County and Sheriff Paul Babeu for negligence and intimidation because of the actions of one of his deputies, Ken Bouldin.

Their story began on Interstate 10 near Eloy in January 2008. That’s when Ornelas, a Mexican citizen with NAFTA credentials that allow him to ship goods across the U.S.-Mexico border, was bringing a load from Agua Prieta, Mexico, and was stopped short of the Phoenix area by Bouldin.

According to his court complaint, Ornelas gave Bouldin his title, registration, driving logs, health certificate and insurance information, along with his border permits and related paperwork. But Bouldin detained him anyway and confiscated his truck and log books – a trucker’s lifeline.

Several hours later, Bouldin took Ornelas to a federal immigration office for processing, where he was released without his truck.

In May 2008, Ornelas was driving another load from Agua Prieta to Phoenix through the Eloy/Casa Grande area, according to the court complaint. Around 9:30 a.m., he was stopped by deputy Bouldin.

Ornelas claims he reminded Bouldin that he had stopped him a few months back, and that all of his paperwork was in order. Still, Bouldin detained him for two hours, shackled his legs and hands and left him in the front seat of his squad car while he impounded Ornelas’ truck and log books.

He took Ornelas to a federal immigration detention center in Florence, where he was released. But this time, authorities released Ornelas to Bouldin.

Ornelas claims Bouldin promptly drove him to a gas station near Casa Grande and abandoned him there. When he asked for his log book, Ornelas claims Bouldin drove off.

“Both of these stops left Mr. Ornelas terrified and fearful of the conduct of Arizona law enforcement officials,” the complaint states.

Now Ornelas is seeking compensatory damages and other costs from the county and the sheriff’s department. He is represented by Tucson lawyers Ted A. Schmidt and Dev K. Sethi.

PINAL COUNTY — A Milwaukee-based bank is asking for court judgments against at least five Pinal County developers who have defaulted on their loans in the wake of the nation’s economic recession and Arizona’s sagging real estate market.

M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank has filed numerous lawsuits in Pinal County Superior Court recently seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers who have dried up. Chief among them is Pueblo One LLC, a Chandler-based developer who had bought land near Royce and Arizona Farm roads in Queen Creek.

That deal went through in April 2006, when the real estate market was peaking. Since then, however, the bank claims Pueblo One has been unable to pay off a $565,000 loan it received to buy the 5.75-acre property.

In September, the bank put the property up for sale at a trustee sale. The market value of the land at the time had sunk to $175,794, according to court records. The bank is now seeking a judgment for the difference – about $422,000 – if the land value remains steady.

The suit against Pueblo One is just one of several that M&I Marshall and Ilsley bank has been filing recently. Court records show a flurry of lawsuits have been filed in Pinal and Pima counties since late November.

In Pinal County, the bank has filed similar actions against Skyline Development Group LLC, Sangwon Yum, Sagwoo Jun, and Horace Kim ($192,000) and Double Diamond Inc., which is doing business as Sugar Creek Development ($29,000).

Phoenix lawyer Leonard J. McDonald Jr. is representing the bank.

CASA GRANDE — The wife of a former police officer here is suing Pinal County for negligence after her husband died during a training exercise for the SWAT team.

The complaint filed in Pinal County Superior Court by Christie Lynch dates back to events in October 2007. That’s when her husband, Tate A. Lynch, a Casa Grande police officer, was allegedly part of a training exercise being held at the county’s jail in Florence.

Christie Lynch claims that her husband was asked to help out during tryouts for new recruits. Part of that involved observing a rappelling exercise conducted by Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Benjamin Cook. The technique involves shinnying down a taut rope at high speeds and is frequently used by rock climbers and military troops exiting a hovering helicopter.

At the end of the exercise, she claims, Tate Lynch rappelled down the wall. His descent became uncontrolled due to the deputy’s alleged negligence, she claims. Tate Lynch fell to the ground and suffered fatal injuries.

Now Christie Lynch is suing the county, the sheriff’s department and Cook. She is represented by Tucson lawyers Philip Hall and Stanley Feldman.