Village Voice Media Honchos Arrested in Phoenix

Village Voice Media executive editor Mike Lacey and chief executive officer Jim Larkin were arrested late Thursday night in Phoenix for publishing this week's cover story in Phoenix New Times. Village Voice Media owns sixteen weeklies across the nation, including Riverfront Times.

The story, which carried both execs' byline, revealed that a grand jury had issued subpoenas demanding documents and notes regarding more than 30 stories the paper had published about Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Prosecutors also issued subpoenas demanding detailed personal information about anyone who had visited the Phoenix New Times Web site since 2004.

Lacey and Larkin were arrested by sheriff's deputies at their homes and led away in handcuffs. Both have since been released.

To read the New Times story that gave rise to the arrests, go here.

For media coverage of the arrests, go here (Phoenix New Times), here (Arizona Republic) and here (New York Times [reg. req.]).

-Tom Finkel

Update 11:55 a.m. October 19: Links to more coverage: East Valley Tribune MSNBC UPI Editor & Publisher KPHO-TV Earth Times Org Political Gateway David Hauslaib's Jossip

On the subpoena: Society of Professional Journalists Editor & Publisher Blog Critic's Magazine KTVK-TV (azfamily.com) Association of Alternative Newsweeklies

Update 1:35 p.m. October 19:

Read this, from Village Voice editor Tony Ortega, who wrote about Sheriff Arpaio while a staff writer in Phoenix.