Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeSaturday, Nov. 07, 2009
CRIME: 2006 Sunnyside jail escapee arrested in Mexico
Herald staff
SUNNYSIDE A gang member who escaped from the Sunnyside jail in 2006 has been captured in Mexico and was flown back to the United States on Saturday, the U.S. Marshals office said.
Aaron Lopez Garcia, 31, was arrested without incident in Manzanillo in the Mexican state of Colima on Friday evening near an ice cream factory, the U.S. Marshal’s office said.
Garcia was wanted for escape and firearms violations. Garcia and three other inmates escaped from the Sunnyside City Jail in November 2006 after cutting a hole in a bathroom ceiling with metal pieces from a mop bucket. The other three inmates were captured soon afterward.
Garcia was expected to be taken to a detention facility in California, where he will have to appear before a federal magistrate, said Darrick Swick, a deputy U.S. marshal in Richland.
On Feb. 10, 2005, Garcia was discovered with a handgun on the floorboard of a vehicle in which he was a passenger. He eventually was convicted of federal charges.
Garcia is a documented member of the Nortenos gang with a history of convictions including firearm possession, robbery, domestic violence, drug possession, burglary, and assault, according to the U.S. Marshal’s Office.
“Aaron Garcia’s arrest is an excellent example of how we continue to benefit from an extraordinary relationship with Mexican authorities, as well as our fellow law enforcement agencies,” said John F. Clark, Director of the U.S. Marshals Service. “Garcia has an extensive history of violence and the time has come for him to answer for his crimes.”
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