2 Escaped Florence Prison Inmates Captured In Coolidge

COOLIDGE, AZ — Two escaped inmates from the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence have finally been captured.

The Coolidge Police Department announced their arrest Thursday morning. The two men have been fugitives since their escape on Saturday.

Coolidge Police said in a news release that David Harmon and John Charpiot were brought into custody after several Coolidge residents had called in to say they had spotted the pair in town. Coolidge police captured them with the help of U.S. Marshals.

"They are in custody, awaiting transport back to the Department of Corrections," the news release said. "Thank you to all citizens who helped in the capture of these fugitives."

Cmdr. Mark Tercero, a department spokesperson, said the inmates were spotted in a field and that officers used stun guns to take them into custody when they disobeyed commands to get on the ground. Both inmates required medical attention, Tercero told the Casa Grande Dispatch.

U.S. Marshal David Gonzales said at a Thursday press conference that the inmates asked the officers to kill them.

“Both of them said, ‘Just shoot me,’” Gonzales said.

A police video taken in the cotton field showed one inmate falling to the ground before his capture and the other one tackled by officers.

One inmate had blood on his face in a photo released by the police department after they were captured.

Tercero said a local man called police to say he was following two men whom he believed were the escapees and that a woman separately called police to report that her parents’ home had just been broken into by two men who fled on foot. A third person called police to say he was chasing the men, Tercero said.

A reward of up to $35,000 per escapee was offered for information leading to the prisoners' arrests.

Tercero said state officials will determine whether the callers would be eligible for the $70,000 reward offered for information leading to the capture of the inmates.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety previously said that Harmon and Charpiot had medical issues and had attempted to rob a store in Florence, just south of Phoenix, shortly after their escape Saturday. They were eventually found less than 10 miles away in Coolidge.

The two escaped from the Florence prison using tools they took from a facility room.

Charpiot has been in prison since 2011 and was serving a 35-year sentence for molestation of a child and sexual abuse before his escape. Harmon has been in since 2012 after his conviction for kidnapping and second-degree burglary charges; he was in the middle of a 100-year sentence.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.