By Beth Culp.
During the Call to the Public at the Nov. 4, 2025, Town Council meeting, ROT Chairperson Crystal Cavanaugh again took to the lectern to complain about how unfairly Allen Skillicorn has been treated by Councilwoman Brenda Kalivianakis, the Fountain Hills Times Independent, and unidentified members of the public. According to Cavanaugh, Skillicorn is owed an apology because the criminal charges brought against him were dismissed without prejudice, in exchange for his pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Cavanaugh is conflating the significance of a dismissal with a determination of innocence. Skillicorn was not found to be innocent. Skillicorn agreed to a plea deal that allowed him to avoid the expense of a trial and the risk of being found guilty of a crime that could have landed him in jail.
Skillicorn is not owed an apology where the surveillance video he recently published on Rumble under the title “Fake Charge Dismissed” proves that on March 5, 2025, he violated A.R.S. § 28-662(A)(1) by leaving and failing to return to the site of an accident.
The statute states that a driver involved in a motor vehicle must “immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close to the accident scene as possible but shall immediately return to the accident scene.”
The “Fake Charges” video shows Skillicorn and the other driver entering a parking lot located approximately 200 feet away from the site of the accident. After spending approximately seven minutes with the other driver, Skillicorn is shown leaving the lot. Another surveillance video from a lot 15 minutes away from the accident shows Skillicorn parking and walking away from his car.
Skillicorn did not wait for the investigating officers at the site or in the immediately adjacent lot. Skillicorn ignored the investigating officer’s messages instructing him to return to the site. He violated the statute and is not owed an apology for fair commentary or impartial, factual reporting.
