$70K in reward money distributed after Arizona prison escapees captured
COOLIDGE, Ariz. (AP) - Federal authorities have paid a reward to a Casa Grande resident and a family in Coolidge for their help in locating two Arizona prison inmates who escaped from a state prison in January.
John Charpiot and David Harmon escaped from the medium security unit at Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence on Jan. 23 after breaking into a tool room and stealing tools to cut through the outside fence, The Casa Grande Dispatch reported. Authorities had offered a $70,000 reward for information that would lead to their capture — $35,000 for each inmate.
The pair was captured Jan. 28 by U.S. deputy marshals and officers with the Coolidge Police Department in a cotton field on the edge of Coolidge after several people reported seeing them.
Casa Grande resident Joe Marquez received $20,000, while the family of Luis Alvarez in Coolidge received the remaining $50,000. The two inmates had tried to steal from Alvarez’s home and attacked his wife. Luis Alvarez and his daughter were among those who called in to police.
Marquez, who received his share of the reward on Feb. 12, called it a "blessing" to receive the money but said he was disappointed by the lack of communication over the money after their capture.
"I didn’t know who to call," Marquez said. "Everybody was giving me the runaround."
Marquez said the U.S. Marshals Service eventually reached out, and Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales met with him personally to thank him and deliver the reward. Marquez said he planned to use the money to help pay off bills.
John Charpiot and David Harmon (Coolidge Police Department)
Charpiot was sent to prison in 2011 on a 35-year sentence in Maricopa County for molestation of a child and sexual abuse.
Harmon has been imprisoned since 2012 after being convicted in Maricopa County and sentenced to 100 years for kidnapping and second-degree burglary charges.