Original Article New Buckeye police chief suing Arpaio, but it's still business as usual Aug. 8, 2005 12:00 AM A few weeks ago, at a county jail facility, Dan Saban found himself facing his nemesis: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Saban is suing Arpaio, saying he spread a story about Saban raping his adoptive mother. But Saban didn't address that when he saw Arpaio. He just sat with his arms folded and grinned while Arpaio gave a speech on homeland security. The confrontational meetings will take place in a courtroom. But the two will find themselves meeting and corresponding regularly over the next few years. Saban, who ran unsuccessfully against Arpaio in last year's election, has a new job: police chief in Buckeye. "We saw each other," Saban said, recounting the law enforcement gathering at the new jail facility on Fourth Avenue in Phoenix. "It's hard to miss me in a room. That's because I haven't missed many meals." Arpaio left the meeting after speaking, ending any chance for tension-filled or awkward moments between the two. It was the same the week before up in Flagstaff, at the summit Gov. Janet Napolitano called to talk about illegal immigration issues. Saban, a big man who sometimes adds to his height with a cowboy hat, spotted Arpaio across the crowded room. Saban stayed away. And he said Arpaio was surrounded by a posse that probably would have made sure Saban didn't get close. Saban said his lawsuit against Arpaio is not business; it's strictly personal. He filed it in March, shortly after getting the police chief's job in Buckeye, a rapidly expanding town on the western edge of metropolitan Phoenix. Saban initially worried that his beef with Arpaio would be an issue for the town leaders. Maybe they wouldn't want the distinction of having the only police chief actively suing the county sheriff. "That could be perceived as baggage," Saban said. But the town's leaders said they supported his right to sue, so long as he didn't involve the town. Saban promised that wouldn't be a problem. "I'm a professional. It's not fair to the taxpayers to carry it over to here," Saban said, sitting behind the brown desk that dominates his small office. "Are (Arpaio and I) going to go to coffee together or cordially go have lunch? No. But I'm a professional. . . . I'm sworn to that." Buckeye works closely with the county. That's spelled out, literally, in big letters on the building where Saban works: the Buckeye/Maricopa County Municipal Center. The town, which has only 45 officers, constantly relies on the county for help. Just recently, sheriff's deputies brought over equipment to help Buckeye officers investigate a fatal car wreck. Saban also sent a letter to Arpaio in July thanking him for his deputies' work on a task force that stopped and inspected commercial trucks traveling through Buckeye. "We hope to have more details like this and look forward to working with your agency again," the letter read. Such polite words are not found in the lawsuit against Arpaio. Arpaio's office had two deputies interview Saban's adoptive mother, who had claimed that Saban raped her when he was a teenager in the early 1970s. Two days later, that report was in the hands of a television reporter for Channel 15 (KNXV), who confronted Saban on camera with the charge. Saban is also suing the TV station. After conducting the interview, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office transferred the case to the Pima County Sheriff's Office in Tucson, saying it could not investigate Arpaio's political opponent. The Pima County Sheriff closed the case shortly thereafter, saying it was too old to pursue. Saban had broken off ties with his adoptive mother soon after he turned 18. So had his two brothers, both of whom also entered law enforcement. Saban retired in 2004 after 25 years at the Mesa Police Department. He lost to Arpaio in September's Republican primary by 27,000 votes. After the campaign, the 49-year-old took some time off, but he had promised his wife they'd move out of their ranch property in Mesa and into a new home in Gilbert. "I had to start looking for a new job," Saban said, chuckling. Buckeye, sitting along Interstate 10 and about 20 miles west of Phoenix, had been without a police chief for months. The town had largely been an agricultural hub and wide spot on the freeway. The police department sits down the street from a slaughterhouse. A gas station at the town's entrance has truck scales. But Buckeye was set to sprout homes. The town had annexed a wide swath of land and expects to zoom from its current population of just over 17,000 to more than 100,000 within four years. It needed to create a big-city operation. After Saban took the job in March, he audited the department's operations. He found much he didn't like. He suspended six officers and started dozens of investigations against others. A reserve officer whom Saban accused of mishandling evidence resigned last week. Saban said he has heard from residents who are grateful that he's helping the department shed it's good-ol'-boy image. The housecleaning brought criticism from the town's mayor, Dustin Hull, who tried to rally support for Saban's ouster. Hull has since backed off. "I'm not going to butt heads with the man. I'm going to wait and see," Hull said. Hull was not worried about the lawsuit against Arpaio. "If the problem is between the sheriff and the chief, I don't think it will have anything to do with law enforcement," he said. Arpaio, through a spokesman, said the suit would not affect relations with Buckeye. "The sheriff represents the people and voters of Buckeye and all of Maricopa County," said Jack McIntyre, the sheriff's head of intergovernmental relations. McIntyre also called Saban's lawsuit against Arpaio "silly" and "frivolous." KNXV, in court papers, denies Saban's allegations that it acted irresponsibly. Saban said he might run for sheriff again in 2007. Doing well as Buckeye police chief might endear the lifelong East Valley resident to voters on the west side, he said. "I can really make an impression," he said. "We're going to build a top-notch organization here." Even if doing so means occasional dealings with Arpaio. "Joe and I, we're peers now," Saban said. He had no trepidations about their two previous run-ins and expects none in the future. "I fear God, and I fear my wife," he said. "No one else." Reach Ruelas at richard .ruelas@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8473.