Pima County Jail officer gets 3 years of probation for punching inmate

A corrections officer at the Pima County Jail who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of an inmate last August was sentenced to three years on probation Wednesday.

On the night of Aug. 31, Corrections Officer Ayden Escarrega, then 20, struck Joshua Garcia, then 37, six times in the face while Garcia was on the floor, knocking him unconscious, according to a jail report.

The report said the incident began after Garcia became “aggressive” and raised his fists “in a threatening manner” while in the jail’s processing area. In statements, officers at the scene said they attempted to restrain Garcia in order to move him to a holding cell when he resisted, dropping to the floor as Escarrega began to punch him in the forehead while another officer restrained his arms and legs.

Garcia suffered cuts and bruises to his face and was transferred to the hospital for evaluation, then returned to jail.

Earlier that day, Garcia had been arrested for disorderly conduct and assault after officers from the Tucson Police Department responded to a domestic dispute, though the charges were later dropped. Based on Garcia’s behavior, a responding officer filed a request for him to be taken to the Crisis Response Center for behavioral health treatment upon release from jail.

Escarrega will not serve jail time for the assault, though Garcia’s attorney Paul Gattone said he asked Superior Court Judge Christopher Browning to sentence Escarrega to at least 30 days in jail due to the “seriousness” of the offense.

“This was clearly a violation of public trust,” Gattone said of the assault. “(It) clearly has no penological need or purpose. That’s an act of violence and anger. Just because our client was in custody there doesn’t mean that he’s subject to excessive force.”

Escarrega was arrested four days after the incident. His criminal charges were initially dropped without prejudice so law enforcement could gather more evidence, a Pima County Attorney’s Office spokesperson said. He was re-charged and arraigned in December.

Gattone said he was “surprised” at the leniency of Escarrega’s plea agreement.

“Certainly, I think that his position, or his former position, had some bearing on the outcome,” he said.

Escarrega’s defense attorney Mike Storie did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though in a letter to the judge, Storie wrote that Escarrega is “truly remorseful for his actions that day and takes full responsibility” and asked for probation for his client.

Included in Escarrega’s character reference letters is one from Pima County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Heather Lappin, who ran as the Republican challenger against Sheriff Chris Nanos last fall.

Lappin, a commander in the intake section of the Pima County Adult Detention Center, was tasked with evaluating Escarrega’s use of force, which she found not justified.

In her letter, Lappin said the incident was out of character for Escarrega, who she said is usually “calm and empathetic,” and argued that his inexperience and lack of training played a role in the case.

A staffing shortage when Escarrega was hired meant he was shorted two full weeks of training at the academy, Lappin said, when he would have had more opportunities to learn about de-escalation and overuse of force.

“I, along with so many others, were devastated when the incident occurred which likely changed the trajectory of life for both the victim and Ayden,” Lappin wrote.

Prior to the assault, Escarrega had worked as a corrections officer for the Sheriff’s Department for a year and seven months without any other disciplinary incidents, according to PCSD spokesperson Keith Bee.

Escarrega was terminated on Feb. 14, two weeks after submitting his guilty plea, though in his letter, Storie indicated that it was “informally understood” that once Escarrega completed his probation, he would reapply to be a CO at the jail.

In a statement, PCSD spokesperson Adam Schoonover said the department “respect(s)” the court’s ruling.

“We hold all members of our department to the highest ethical and legal expectations, and any actions that undermine public trust are taken seriously,” Schoonover said.

Garcia will continue to pursue his civil suit against Escarrega, Nanos, and the four other officers involved, his lawyer said.

Pima County corrections officers were previously accused of using excessive force in a 2022 incident at the jail during which 37-year-old Wade Welch died after being tased multiple times by officers, though an investigation found the use of force objectively reasonable and no charges were filed.

“I think that the County Attorney’s Office, and any prosecuting office, is very hesitant to really push cases of police violence. I think they soft-pedal it. And that’s very unfortunate,” Gattone said.