Joseph William Watson III, a former staff writer for the Phoenix New Times, was arrested Friday in conjunction with the robberies of three Scottsdale, Ariz., beauty salons and as many as six other businesses, investigators tell The Arizona Republic. According to police, Watson confessed the crimes and told detectives he was driven to steal to cover gambling debt. Watson
won two 2006 AltWeekly Awards, including a first-place finish for Feature Writing. "I'm in a state of shock,"
New Times staff writer Stephen Lemons says. "I knew Watson had been battling an obsession with gambling for some time, and I know he'd sunk low in the past because of it. But I had no idea he'd go so far."
