Rep. Cook was arrested, charged for 2003 roadside brawl with brother

A police report obtained by the Arizona Mirror details a fight between Globe Republican Rep. David Cook and his brother that led to misdemeanor charges in 2003.

Cook recently made headlines for being arrested for a DUI in December. After being pulled over by an Arizona State Trooper, he gave the officer his legislative identification badge, told him he was “making a mistake” and told another trooper “you’ll get yours” after he was placed under arrest.

Cook was not a legislator at the time of the incident in 2003, when he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The charges were later dismissed, though it is not clear why, as the Globe Regional Court no longer maintains records from cases that long ago.

A volunteer for Cook said he had no comment. Attempts to reach his brother were unsuccessful.

The incident

On Aug. 31, 2003, deputies with the Gila County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to Cook’s house at around 12:30 a.m..

They had been called there by Cook’s brother, Marc.

Deputies had been told by the dispatcher that the two brothers had been fighting and one was in the home and the other was outside.

When they arrived, the deputies were met by Marc, who had been sitting on the side of the road with a ripped shirt.

He told the deputies he had been visiting from Oklahoma and was babysitting Cook’s kids while Cook and his wife went out partying at the nearby country club.

But Cook called his brother, imploring him to come to the party, and to bring the kids.

Marc did so. After Cook’s wife left to take the children home, he and his brother kept drinking at the party.

Later, the brothers were on their way home, with Cook driving down a dirt back road in the Pinal Mountains to get home, instead of using the highway. During the drive, the brothers began arguing.

The report doesn’t say what the argument was about, but it escalated quickly.

Cook slammed on the brakes on the dirt road, saying he wanted to fight his brother. He jumped out of the vehicle and came over to the passenger side door, but fell backward into a ditch on the side of the road.

When he got back up, he came at Marc, ripping his brother’s shirt in the process. Eventually, the pair stopped fighting and made their way home.

That’s where things began to escalate again.

According to Marc, Cook began throwing chairs at him, so Marc held Cook down. Eventually, Marc let him up, but Cook kept trying to fight him, so Marc ran away.

He grabbed his luggage and Cook’s cellphone and ran across the street, while Cook hurled insults from the porch.

That was the story Marc told deputies.

But when Sgt. M. Johnson, Deputy Jay Valenzuela and Deputy J. Strickland knocked on the Cook residence door, his wife answered and said he was sleeping.

She woke Cook up, and when the deputies asked him about the incident, he replied, “Not all three of you need to be in my house.”

When they explained that they had come to investigate a domestic dispute, Cook said he and his wife had been sleeping and not fighting.

When Valenzuela told Cook it had to do with his brother, which would be considered a domestic dispute, Cook stated he wasn’t going to argue the law with the deputies.

Valenzuela asked Cook again about the fight, and he replied that he wouldn’t talk with the deputy and would instead talk with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Cook was placed under arrest. When Valenzuela began escorting him out, Cook insisted another deputy do it and said he did not want to be touched by Valenzuela.

Marc was taken to a nearby hotel and told authorities he planned to go back to Oklahoma the following day.

Cook was booked for disorderly conduct and taken to jail.

The charges were dismissed in Globe Regional Court in December 2003.

The Mirror attempted to get additional records on the arrest but the Globe Regional Court and Gila County Sheriff’s Office both said they did not have the records as they destroy misdemeanor records that are over 10 years old.