CHANDLER, AZ — In a plot twist, the owner of a tattoo shop who once held a fundraiser to help those impacted by a shooting next to his business has been arrested in connection with an FBI investigation into the sale of heroin on the dark web.
Jason Arnold is among three people arrested in connection with the investigation, facing counts in a federal court of Distribution of a Controlled Substance and Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance.
According to court documents, agents with the FBI in Sacramento accessed a network on the dark web last year and found a vendor selling heroin. The vendor, SICKNESSVERSION2, at one point had a 4.81 (out of 5) star rating among customers, according to court documents.
Investigators made four separate purchases of the product, which arrived in California mixed-in with packages of gummy bears, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators tracked postal records, which helped lead them to Jason Arnold, who runs "Damaged Ink Tattoo & Body Piercing" near Chandler Boulevard and Alma School Road in Chandler, according to court documents.
Back in April 2017, ABC15 interviewed Arnold as his tattoo shop held a fundraiser to help those impacted by a shooting next-door. Surveillance video showed bullets barely missing a young girl seated inside the business. At the time, Arnold indicated the bullets may have been meant for his business. The alleged shooter apparently had gotten into an argument inside the tattoo shop.
"I feel like those bullets were meant to come here, you know what I mean?" Arnold said at the time. "And I um...after watching that video and how close that little girl came, you know, I just feel that this is the least we could do."
Now, Arnold is among several arrests connected to the FBI investigation.
ABC15 reached out to an attorney representing Arnold but were told he has no comment.
