Suspect still loose after escaping jail
Escapee faces charges in January crash that killed mother, daughter
Paul Garcia and Blake McPherson were in the Sandoval County jail’s recreation yard Friday night when they slipped through a hole in the fence and managed to clamber onto the roof.
By the time detention center officials realized they were gone, there wasn’t much to go on.
A hole in the fence. A pair of orange jumpsuits ditched at a nearby construction site. And one set of footprints leading to the Rio Grande.
The men had vanished into the night.
It’s unclear how authorities were tipped off, but Albuquerque police officers caught up with McPherson, 21, near University and Menaul on Saturday morning.
Garcia, 24, remained on the loose Saturday night. He had been jailed earlier this year in
a high-profile case after, police say, he and an accomplice stole a van and fled at nearly 80 mph, crashing into a car carrying a 14-year-old girl and her mother in northeast Albuquerque.
Shaylee Boling, 14, died at the scene, while her mother, Shaunna Arredondo-Boling, died nearly two weeks later. They had been headed to school early that morning on Jan. 18.
Garcia and his accomplice, 21-year-old Elexus Groves, were charged with murder and a slew of other crimes.
At the time, Garcia eluded authorities for weeks despite an $8,000 reward and numerous law enforcement agencies searching for him.
He was eventually arrested at an Edgewood McDonald’s and booked into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.
But he was also facing charges in Sandoval County, and a day before the escape, he was transferred to the Sandoval County Detention Center for an upcoming hearing in that case. It was for a petty misdemeanor — two felony counts in the same case were dropped by prosecutors — leaving a charge of criminal damage to property after Garcia allegedly burglarized some mailboxes in Placitas in 2016, according to online court records.
McPherson had been at the facility longer than Garcia, on charges of receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident, and is also facing charges for a case out of Aztec, including aggravated burglary, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, larceny and receiving stolen property, online court records show.
Sandoval County Detention Center warden Matthew Elwell called McPherson a “very good inmate” who worked in the kitchen at the jail, which is near the intersection of N.M. 528 and U.S. 550 in Bernalillo.
Garcia and McPherson were housed in the same dorm-style pod under medium security and were accounted for during a head count around 7:40 p.m. Friday, Elwell said. They and other inmates were allowed into the recreation yard sometime after that head count.
McPherson was noticed missing in another head count around 10:40 p.m. Guards then locked down the jail and did a second count and discovered Garcia was also missing.
The escapees had fled to a nearby construction site where they changed clothes and left their jail jumpsuits, according to Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Keith Elder. They then apparently parted ways, as authorities could only find a single set of footprints leading to the river.
Elwell said investigators have surveillance footage and are interviewing other inmates to try to figure out how the two men escaped.
He said investigators don’t know whether the escapees made the hole in the fence or if it had already been there. They don’t believe the men used tools to cut the fence.
“We’ll have an after-action incident review,” Elwell said. “We’ll be visiting with staff and investigating our policies and procedures.”
A manhunt was launched for Garcia on Saturday, and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office announced it was offering a $2,000 reward for tips leading to his arrest. The U.S. Marshals Service also said it was offering a $2,000 reward, and Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward.
“We know that Mr. Garcia is dangerous,” said Sidney Hill, a spokesman for Sandoval County, at a news conference Saturday. “Whether he’s been armed or has armed himself, we don’t know. We ask that people don’t approach Mr. Garcia themselves.”
Hill said the public was notified overnight of the escape. Both men may face more charges in the escape, Elder said.
Garcia is awaiting trial in the murder case, which is scheduled for 2018.
Shaylee Boling was a freshman at Sandia High School when she died. Her 3-year-old brother was also in the car during the crash, and he suffered a broken leg but survived.
Their 39-year-old mother, Shaunna Arredondo-Boling, died a couple weeks later after being on life support.