13 Dec 4th-Dec 10th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Questions? Feedback? Email me at [email protected] • Follow me on RATING (out of 5 McFly’s) 2025 TOYOTA TACOMA: THE PICKUP THAT PACKS LUNCH, MOONSHINE — AND DOESN’T GRIPE ABOUT IT 2025 TOYOTA TACOMA If you want a mid-size If you want a mid-size pickup that doesn’t pretend pickup that doesn’t pretend to be a luxury SUV, the 2025 to be a luxury SUV, the 2025 Tacoma rolls in wearing Tacoma rolls in wearing denim, a leather jacket, and denim, a leather jacket, and zero apologies. The base zero apologies. The base models start around $46,000 models start around $46,000 which is a solid value for which is a solid value for this whip. Under the hood, this whip. Under the hood, depending on trim, you’ve got depending on trim, you’ve got either a 2.7-liter four-cylinder either a 2.7-liter four-cylinder or a 3.5-liter V6 — fuel or a 3.5-liter V6 — fuel economy depends on which economy depends on which combo you pick, but you’re combo you pick, but you’re looking at roughly 19–23 mpg looking at roughly 19–23 mpg city / 24–27 mpg highway city / 24–27 mpg highway (with V6/4-cyl respectively) (with V6/4-cyl respectively) depending on cab, bed, and depending on cab, bed, and drivetrain. It’s not gonna sip drivetrain. It’s not gonna sip fuel like a Prius, but you’re fuel like a Prius, but you’re not towing a house. This not towing a house. This truck isn’t about speed or truck isn’t about speed or flash — it’s about “get the job flash — it’s about “get the job done,” even if that job means done,” even if that job means hauling dirt bikes, camp gear, hauling dirt bikes, camp gear, or a cooler full of whatever the or a cooler full of whatever the bros decided to stash for the bros decided to stash for the weekend. weekend. Inside the cab and out Inside the cab and out back: simple, no-frills, built back: simple, no-frills, built tough. Seats are functional, tough. Seats are functional, not fancy; bed and bed- not fancy; bed and bed- access stay honest. You access stay honest. You won’t get leather-wrapped won’t get leather-wrapped dashboards or ambient dashboards or ambient lighting, but you do get a bed lighting, but you do get a bed that welcomes tools, gear, that welcomes tools, gear, or beer (or all three). At the or beer (or all three). At the price and efficiency you get, price and efficiency you get, you’re buying dependability, you’re buying dependability, flexibility, and a truck made flexibility, and a truck made to earn its keep — not fluff its to earn its keep — not fluff its Comfort: Value: Fuel Economy: Looks: The Drive: Safety & Security: Overall: Sound System: Bells & Whistles: “At one point in the evening Garcia propo- sitioned Father Doe, offering him employ- ment with (Turning Point) if he agreed to have sex with her. As Garcia became more aggressive and explicit, presumably due to excessive consumption of alcohol, Father Doe eventually decided he could no longer tolerate Garcia’s harassment and inappropriate conduct and decided to leave the restaurant and go home.” Doe claims he left the restaurant around 12:30 a.m. and arrived home roughly 45 minutes later. When he got there, he found that his daughter wasn’t home. He drove to the house of one of his daughter’s friends, with whom she’d spent part of the evening, but she wasn’t there either. ‘Panic and shock’ When he returned home a second time, he was met by deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. They told him his daughter was “safe” and with Garcia after she and two other people — including Turning Point employee Angela Rodin, who is also named as a defendant in the suit — picked her up. New Times has requested any sheriff’s office reports mentioning Garcia from that timeframe, but has not received any. The complaint says Doe “openly and repeatedly questioned how or why his daughter would be with Garcia. His panic and shock was compounded by the fact he was aware Garcia and other individuals she was with had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol and were extremely intoxicated when he (Father Doe) left the restaurant.” Doe says he was able to reach Garcia by phone at 2:20 a.m. to confirm his daughter was with her. The lawsuit says he “was understandably shocked with Garcia’s inexplicable decision to take his daughter from her home without his permission or consent, place her in a vehicle while (Garcia) was extremely intoxicated, along with two other unknown adults who were also likely intoxicated.” It also says that if Garcia was truly concerned for the girl’s well-being, she would have known that the girl’s grandparents lived just down the street. Per the lawsuit, sheriff’s deputies first contacted the girl’s grandparents to let them know she was with Garcia. Doe wasn’t able to retrieve his daughter until around noon the next day, partly because Garcia allegedly wouldn’t answer his calls. He learned from his daughter that “Garcia told her that she (Garcia) was concerned for Minor Doe’s safety because Father Doe had been drinking, suggesting that Father Doe could become violent, and that he was on his way home.” According to the complaint, the inci- dent left the daughter with major trauma. “She was terrified of leaving home and rarely left her room; she no longer wanted to interact socially with friends and family or participate in extracurricular activities; she no longer wanted to go to school; her grades began to suffer,” it reads. The lawsuit also names Turning Point and Avondale as defendants, claiming they are vicariously liable for Garcia’s actions as her employers. Then-Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner is also a defendant due to the “complicit conduct of MCSO Deputies,” the lawsuit states. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The father-daughter duo is suing for false imprisonment/kidnapping, negli- gence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress against Garcia and Rodin, as well as civil conspiracy against all those named in the suit. They accuse Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies of aiding and abetting the alleged kidnapping. The defendants have yet to respond to the lawsuit in court. Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. (Tony Webster) Serious Allegations from p 12
