PHOENIX — Cooper Lamb, the son of Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, has taken a plea deal that will likely have him serve six months in jail.
His sentencing is scheduled for next month, where a judge is expected to agree to the terms of the deal, arranged by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Cooper was also arrested for a second DUI, just two months after he nearly killed a man on a bicycle, ABC15 has learned. The more recent arrest is still going through the courts and there is an active warrant for Cooper's arrest after he allegedly missed a court hearing.
The plea agreement relates to the July 8, 2020, crash where Cooper smashed into a bicyclist in San Tan Valley.
The victim, Larry Fawcet, was airlifted to a hospital and underwent multiple surgeries.
"His brain was injured. His spine was fractured. His leg was broken. The ligaments in his knee were torn. His arm was broken. His whole life has been changed because of this," said Larry Lazzara, an attorney who represented Mr. Fawcet in the civil suit.
Cooper stayed on the scene that night.
His father, the county's top law enforcement officer, arrived on the scene but told ABC15 at the time he only acted as a father and had his deputies immediately call MCSO to handle the case since there was a potential conflict of interest.
MCSO investigators suspected impairment from the start after they said Cooper failed nearly every field sobriety test.
Detectives arrested Cooper that night and found the then-20-year-old to be "impaired by a Central Nervous System depressant, Cannabis and unable to operate a motor vehicle safely.”
He was not booked into jail for another six months though, as MCSO waited on the DPS crime lab to process the drug toxicology sample.
According to court paperwork, a blood sample taken from Cooper Lamb showed that he had Etizolam in his system as well as Alprazolam.
Etizolam is a thienodiazepine, which depresses a person’s central nervous system to help with insomnia and anxiety.
Alprazolam is also commonly used to calm the body and treat anxiety and panic disorders.
TWO MONTHS LATER: ANOTHER ARREST
On August 5, less than two months after the San Tan Valley crash, Cooper was arrested in Tempe.
He was cited and released for "DUI, possession of narcotic drugs, and possession of dangerous drugs."
A Tempe police officer said he was in the process of pulling Cooper over when the sheriff's son "hit a raised curb" while pulling into a Walgreens parking lot on Mill Avenue, shortly after 7 p.m.
The officer wrote that Cooper "showed signs of impairment" and a search revealed "a usable amount of Xanax and Fentanyl within baggies in his front left pants pocket."
According to the police report, Cooper confirmed what the pills were and "admitted to consuming both drugs within the past 24 hours." On December 9, 2021, a warrant was issued for Cooper's arrest.
When asked for comment on this story, Cooper's attorney declined to comment on the cases but confirmed sentencing regarding the plea agreement is set for early February.
The victim in the San Tan Valley crash told ABC15 that his life is still greatly impacted by injuries sustained during the crash.
The victim could not share more details about the civil liability settlement because of a non-disclosure agreement. His attorney shared the following statement:
"[We] had to exhaust all of Mr. Fawcett's underinsured motorist benefits, which was only $100,000. Larry's hospital visit to Chandler Regional alone was $256,000. His rehabilitation bill thereafter was over $50,000 and the air evac was over $43,000. The underinsured motorist claims can only be made when there are insufficient funds in the underlying liability claim to pay for the value of a case."
