A Cochise County jail inmate who ran away from his work crew early Saturday morning was apprehended 12 hours later near the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said.
Pedro Sandoval Duarte, of Sonora, Mexico, was being held on felony charges related to transportation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale, when he fled from his work crew just after 1 a.m., said Cochise County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, Carol Capas.
Sheriff's employees, along with members of the U.S. Border Patrol, Bisbee Police Department, Tombstone Marshal's Office and Arizona Department of Corrections K-9 Chase Team responded to the detention center to continue the search, Capas said.
Later in the morning, Duarte was spotted by border patrol cameras heading south towards the border, and all units were sent to the area to stop him from crossing into Mexico, Capas said.
Duarte was located and taken back into custody at about 1 p.m., and is being returned to the Cochise County jail, where he will be booked with new charges, Capas said.
"This was an unfortunate incident for all who were involved," said Cochise County Sheriff Mark J. Dannels. "This man was so desperate to be free that he fled with a detention officer on his heels."
Dannels also addressed critics who said the Sheriff's office used too many resources in attempting to apprehend someone who was "only here for marijuana charges," saying that Duarte could have been so desperate for freedom, that he might have been willing to harm others "or worse."
Duarte had been an inmate in the jail since his August 1 arrest on felony charges of possession of marijuana for sale and transportation of marijuana, Capas said in an earlier media release.
"Now we will begin the after action review process and find out how this incident happened and how we can do better so we don't have a next time," Dannels said.
