BUCKEYE, Ariz. — A man has been booked into the Maricopa County jail on suspicion of severely abusing a 4-month-old baby girl.
Buckeye police said 27-year-old David Roman was arrested Tuesday after a baby he was caring for was brought to a Valley hospital for extensive skull fractures, brain bleeding and broken ribs.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Un hombre fue arrestado por abusar brutalmente de una bebé en Buckeye
Police were notified of the child's injuries on March 13 and arrested Roman after medical tests allegedly showed that the baby's injuries were not accidental.
Roman claimed the infant had fallen at least three times on his watch and one of those instances allegedly involved a dog dragging the baby off a bed, court records show. Investigators found some of the baby's injuries had to have been caused by a "compression" and could not have been caused by stories given by the suspect.
Roman is facing charges of child abuse and endangerment.
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What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.
