A 21-year-old Phoenix man is accused of seriously injuring a rideshare driver during a Tempe carjacking on Nov. 6 before abandoning the stolen vehicle in New Mexico and threatening a family in a pickup truck. Samuel Goodrick was later arrested in Arizona and booked on charges of attempted second-degree murder, robbery and theft of means of transportation. His bond was set at $1.5 million, cash only.
Court documents identify the injured driver as Chadwick Stevens, who was allegedly attacked in a parking lot near a warehouse he co-owns with his partner near Priest Drive and Elliot Road. His partner told investigators that Stevens often visited the warehouse at night to work and check the property.
After Stevens failed to return home, his partner used the Life360 app to check his whereabouts. Police said the app recorded his arrival at the warehouse at 3:07 a.m., followed by the device leaving at 3:20 a.m. Four minutes later, it stopped near I-10 and Elliot Road. Officers found Stevens shortly before 6 a.m. He was hospitalized with facial fractures, broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a brainstem injury. Investigators said hospital staff reported that he was in a medically induced coma and would not survive.
Stevens’ black 2021 GMC Yukon was missing. Detectives reported finding a cellphone, a protective case and Goodrick’s passport on the roadway near the I-10 interchange at Elliot Road. According to court paperwork, Goodrick abandoned the Yukon around 12:30 p.m. near the New Mexico State Highway 338 interchange on I-10.
Police said Goodrick, who was naked, then climbed into the bed of a pickup occupied by a family towing a travel trailer. The family called 911 and continued driving because he was threatening them. After they crossed into Arizona, Goodrick allegedly broke the pickup’s rear window and entered the cab. Court records say the family stopped, removed him from the truck and drove to safety.
New Mexico State Police detained Goodrick while he was standing naked in the freeway near San Simon, roughly 14 miles west of the state border. An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper reported that Goodrick spontaneously said he had killed someone in Arizona. He was taken to a Willcox hospital for medical and mental health evaluations.
Goodrick was arrested around 7:30 p.m. Court documents say he again stated that he had killed someone when asked whether he understood why police were there. After officers advised him of his Miranda rights, he declined to answer questions without a lawyer. About an hour later, while awaiting hospital release, he allegedly made another unsolicited statement describing slamming someone’s head into the ground.
During a subsequent court appearance, the judge told Goodrick the attempted murder charge could be upgraded if Stevens died. Goodrick expressed a desire to sleep, appeared surprised that he was in Phoenix and repeatedly interrupted the proceedings. Asked about military service, he responded, “Oh, maybe spiritual war?”
Forensic psychologist John De La Torre, who reviewed video of the hearing, said Goodrick’s behavior raised concerns and made a competency evaluation very likely. Such an assessment would determine whether he could stand trial before the case proceeded. De La Torre discussed uncontrolled mental health problems or effects from intoxicants as possible explanations for the behavior, without identifying a definitive cause.
