A Phoenix 15-year-old was arrested by Cochise County Sheriff’s Office deputies over the weekend for human smuggling.
According to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, on Saturday November 4, 2023 at approximately 8:46 p.m., members of the Sheriff’s Office and Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers made contact with a black Toyota sedan with California license plates on Hereford Road and South Las Flores Place in Hereford. The vehicle was travelling at 68 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone.
After making contact with the teen driver, identified as David A. Sanchez-Salinas, they saw several subjects lying down in the back of the vehicle. Moments later, Sanchez-Salinas fled the scene at a high rate of speed, striking the driver side fender of a patrol vehicle on the way.
Sanchez-Salinas fled westbound at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, eventually crashing his vehicle into a light pole on the northwest corner of the intersection of South Highway 92 and Hereford Road. Sanchez-Salinas was ordered out the vehicle and taken into custody.
Three illegal aliens, identified as a 33-year-old female and her two daughters ages 9 and 6, were found in the back seat of the vehicle.
Medics from Fry Fire transported the aliens to the Emergency Department at Canyon Vista Medical Center (CVMC) in Sierra Vista, AZ, where the female was treated for a broken left leg she suffered crossing the border prior to getting into the vehicle. No other injuries were found on any of the occupants.
The three were later released into the custody of US Border Patrol for processing.
Sanchez-Salinas was medically cleared and transported to the Cochise County Jail in Bisbee, where he was booked on the following charges:
- Participation in Human Smuggling
- 3 counts of Endangerment
- 2 counts of Kidnapping
- Child Abuse
- Flee Pursuing Law Enforcement
- Reckless Driving
- Excessive Speed
- Criminal Damage
- Permitting Life of a Minor to be Imperiled
The investigation is ongoing.