On Saturday December 3, 2016 at approximately 1:20 am, 28 year old Pedro Sandoval Duarte of Sonora Mexico was working on an inmate work crew at the Cochise County Detention Center when he fled the area. Inmate Sandoval-Duarte left the area running in a northeast direction wearing a green and white striped inmate uniform with orange “croc” shoes.
Sheriff’s Office personnel along with US Border Patrol, Bisbee Police Department, Tombstone Marshal’s Office, and Arizona Department of Corrections K-9 Chase Team responded to the area to continue the search, along with air support from CCSO’s Geronimo, US Border Patrol, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety as well as mounted (horse) patrols from the Sheriff’s Office and US Border Patrol.
The suspect was observed by US Border Patrol cameras heading south toward the United States/Mexico border and all units were dispatched to that location to stop him from crossing into Mexico.
At approximately 1:00 p.m., the suspect was located and captured. He at the Cochise County Jail in Bisbee.
Sheriff Dannels said, “This was an unfortunate incident for all who were involved, but I am so very proud of the Sheriff’s Office staff for showing dedication to duty and service to our citizens by being vigilant and having no thought of giving up the search. To our public safety partners, I also give thanks and applause for reaching out over any jurisdictional boundary and joining the team effort to bring this man back into custody.”
“And for everyone who had a thought, opinion, or comment to us via social media or through phone calls, I would like to say how much I also appreciate your support of our social media and our department,” continued Dannels. “With that said, several comments that were made indicated that we were using too many resources for the apprehension of someone who was “only here for marijuana charges” and to that I want to say that this man was in custody on felony charges. This man was so desperate to be free that he fled with a Detention Officer on his heels, This man could have been so desperate that he would have stopped at nothing to include harming others or worse to get away. This man was in custody to be processed through a judicial system that has been tried and true and he should not be allowed to not face that process.”