Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies served search warrants and subpoenas at a trio of Valley summer fun spots Tuesday morning as part of a sweeping investigation into potential violations of the state's Legal Arizona Workers Act.
Deputies arrived simultaneously at Waterworld on Phoenix, Big Surf in Tempe and Golfland in Mesa about 11 a.m. Tuesday to serve the warrants covering employee files at Waterworld, which the business was expected to comply with immediately.
Subpoenas were also served for other employee records, though Waterworld executives will have time to work out those details, deputies said.
The Sheriff's Office said at an afternoon press conference that there's a strong possibility that 104 of Golfland Entertainment's 198 employees have discrepancies with their Social Security number information. If this plays out to be true, then there will likely be action or investigation against Golfland, making it the first aggressive move to enforce the state's employer sanctions law, authorities say.
The investigation into potential violations of Arizona's employer-sanctions law began after deputies received a tip in February from a former Waterworld employee that included detailed, specific information on employees who were using fraudulent documents to work at the family fun centers.
After months of surveillance and investigation, detectives targeted six employees Tuesday morning, most of whom were apprehended on their way to work.
Another Waterworld employee who detectives targeted was arrested without incident at the water park Tuesday, and another was apprehended after he jumped the fence and tried to flee the park before he ran into sheriff's deputies who formed a perimeter around the scene.
The Sheriff's Office has arrested eight workers during a handful of investigations into violations of the state's employer sanctions law, but has yet to target any business owner for prosecution.
An employer found to have knowingly hired an undocumented worker after Jan. 1 would lose a business license for up to 10 days on the first offense, and could permanently lose an Arizona business license for a second offense.
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