Tempe police submit hit-and-run charge in 2025 fatal motorcycle crash

PHOENIX —The Tempe Police Department submitted a felony hit-and-run charge on Thursday against a 19-year-old woman who allegedly spent time at a bar under scrutiny for underage drinking before a deadly crash last year.

The charge of failure to remain at the scene of an accident involving death was submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office against Ava Bellowe.

The charge stems from the Sept. 14 death of 18-year-old Joseph Gonzalez.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office confirmed it received the submittal and said the case is currently under review. The office did not provide a timeline for a charging decision.

The case surrounding Bellowe and the Tempe Tavern

Gonzalez was riding his motorcycle when he crashed into a self-driving car as it was turning near Rural Road and Lemon Street, police said. Gonzalez was then struck by a white Chevrolet Camaro driven by Bellowe, who then allegedly left the scene.

Detectives identified Bellowe as the driver through video analysis, license plate identification and follow-up investigative work, police said. She eventually turned herself in to authorities.

The investigation revealed Bellowe had been at Tempe Tavern, a bar near McClintock Drive and Apache Boulevard. She walked home before getting into her car and being involved in the fatal crash, police said.

Photos recovered from her cellphone showed her inside the bar.

Gonzalez’s death was part of what prompted Tempe police to conduct a large-scale underage drinking sting at Tempe Tavern in November, where 249 people were arrested in a single night. A prior operation in April resulted in 173 arrests.

A ‘clear and present danger’ or ‘a public smear campaign’?

Since 2021, the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control has cited Tempe Tavern with nine underage-related violations across four separate incidents, according to state records.

The Tempe bar was first cited in June 2023 for failing to request ID from an underage buyer and furnishing alcohol to a minor. Similar violations followed in March 2025, June 2025 and February 2026, with charges expanding to include accepting unauthorized forms of identification.

The bar has been flagged for even more underage-related violations in each of the last three years.

Tempe Tavern has filed a federal lawsuit against the Tempe Police Department, detectives and the state liquor board, accusing them all of a “coordinated smear campaign” that damaged the bar’s reputation.

Central to the complaint is the Bellowe case.

For its part, Tempe Tavern argues it bears no responsibility for the fatal crash, noting that Bellowe presented a fake Florida driver’s license listing her age as 22, which staff verified before serving her.

Tempe Tavern further points to the Tempe PD’s own crash report, which is included in the federal lawsuit. Detectives found that alcohol was not a factor in the crash, that the motorcyclist was at fault for rear-ending a Waymo vehicle, and that Bellowe had “no chance of avoiding” the impact.

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