Suspect escapes police custody after arrest, sickness

A Maricopa man temporarily escaped police custody early Sunday morning after being arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident that occurred the previous night.

According to reports from the Maricopa Police Department, Ariel Vizcarra-Garcia, 20, was being prepared for transport to the Pinal County Adult Detention Center on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage when the alleged escape took place.

Officers were planning to place Vizcarra in a transport vehicle when he allegedly became sick and started to vomit, the report said.

The escorting officer reportedly uncuffed one of Vizcarra’s hands to allow him to brace himself while he vomited in the rocks near the sally port in the rear of the main police station.

While partially uncuffed, Vizcarra then allegedly broke loose from the escorting officer’s grip and scaled a metal fence surrounding the department’s vehicle pool.

Maricopa Police Department spokesman Ricardo Alvarado said Vizcarra successfully evaded officers’ initial attempts at capture, and an area-wide search was quickly initiated.

Despite help from Ak-Chin Police and Customs and Border Patrol, Alvarado said they were unable to immediately locate Vizcarra.

However, knowing he lived relatively close to the police station, Alvarado said, officers went to Vizcarra’s house, where he showed up a short time later and was detained without further incident.

In addition to the initial charges, Vizcarra is now facing charges of theft for fleeing with the handcuffs and escape in the third degree – a class 6 felony –  for escaping detention.

If convicted, Alvarado said, the escape charge is likely to make Vizcarra a “high risk” inmate, turning otherwise simple charges of criminal damage and disorderly conduct into offenses that could land him in a maximum-security detention center.

The MPD report states Vizcarra was initially arrested on the domestic violence related charges after a verbal argument with his “live-in” girlfriend turned violent when he allegedly began punching holes in multiple doors at the couple’s residence.

With charges combined, Vizcarra could face six years or more in prison if convicted.