Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Raids Mesa City Hall

Sheriff Joe Arpaio traded angry words and accusations with Mesa officials Thursday after 60 deputies and posse members armed with search warrants stormed City Hall and the public library in the middle of the night in a hunt for illegal workers.

"I believe the safety of our citizens was gravely compromised" when Maricopa County sheriff's deputies in "battle gear" swept into city buildings about 2 a.m. while cleaning crews were at work, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith told reporters. "I believe we had set the scene where bad things could have happened."

Arpaio defended his tactics, claiming the raid came only after a former city employee called the sheriff's illegal-immigration hotline to report that a cleaning company under contract with the city was hiring illegal immigrants.

Smith said at a news conference that a Mesa officer came across the deputies about 12:30 a.m. as they staged at the park "dressed in battle gear, with canines and semi-automatic weapons."

When the officer recognized the men as sheriff's deputies, Smith said, "He was told they were not allowed to tell him what their purpose was. . . . He never got any information. Approximately an hour later, the city was told that they were there for K-9 training."

Because of that, Smith said, there was enormous potential for death or injury had Mesa police responded to a 911 call from someone who had seen armed men gathering in the park.

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Arpaio denied questions about whether the raid was politically motivated or that it was timed to deflect attention from a videotape that surfaced Wednesday depicting the brutal death of an inmate at a county jail, which his office runs. The inmate's family has filed intent to sue the county.

Joining Arpaio in an afternoon press conference, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said the cleaning company had been under investigation for months. When asked why Mesa police could not handle the case, Arpaio said, "It's my jurisdiction, too. You seem to forget."