Associated Press
PHOENIX — A sheriff’s detention officer shot and killed a jail inmate in Phoenix who slipped out of his restraints, ran away and struggled with another officer over a gun Tuesday, authorities said.
Angel Frescas, 22, died hours after being shot in the head by another detention officer who responded to the scene.
Frescas took off running after being taken to a hospital, Maricopa County Sheriff’s officials said. A detention officer caught up with him, and they struggled over the officer’s gun.
Another detention officer at the hospital responded to a call for help and fired several shots at Frescas, hitting him twice, said Deputy Joaquin Enriquez, a sheriff’s spokesman.
Frescas had been arrested Oct. 14 on suspicion of aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting arrest in a Sept. 18 case, authorities said.
The shooting occurred on a street near the county hospital in central Phoenix, and news video showed a parked black van with bullet holes in its windshield. Residents said they heard several gunshots.
The inmate fled after somehow unfastening handcuffs and leg restraints while he and two other prisoners were unloaded from the van at the hospital, Enriquez said.
While one officer gave chase, a second detention officer helping transport the prisoners took the other two into the hospital and placed them in a holding cell.
Investigators believe Frescas had planned the escape in advance, Enriquez said.
A sheriff’s inmate escaped from the same hospital earlier this month as he was taken in for a medical appointment. That inmate ditched his crutches and drove off in a vehicle that a deliveryman had left running. The inmate and stolen car were found elsewhere in Phoenix later that day.
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