Contributed Photo: The three suspects from a Jan. 11 police pursuit, from left, Marko Garcia, Robert Glidewell, and Sebastian Martinez, have all been apprehended.
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – You can run and you can hide but eventually the long arm of the Safford law will catch up to you. Three suspects who led police on a pursuit from Safford into Daley Estates in Thatcher on the afternoon of Jan. 11 have all been apprehended and are facing various charges.
The incident occurred after an alleged drug deal in the parking lot of the Burger King at 2103 U.S. Highway 70 in Thatcher. An officer attempted to pull the suspects’ vehicle over afterward, and that led to a pursuit into Daley Estates, where the driver was eventually apprehended. The two passengers were identified through the restaurant’s surveillance footage and apprehended at a later date.
The alleged driver, Sebastian Martinez-Quintana, 29, was booked the evening of the pursuit on charges of unlawful flight from pursuing law enforcement, resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, and an open warrant for possession of drug paraphernalia.
The front passenger was identified as Robert Hawk Glidewell, 32, of Safford. He was taken into custody and was charged with possession of a narcotic drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The rear-seat passenger was identified as Marko Zachariah Garcia, 32, of Safford. He was taken into custody and booked on a single charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Garcia also has an ongoing case regarding fraudulent schemes and artifices and theft.
According to a Safford Police report, a DPS trooper informed a Safford officer of a suspicious brown, 2015 Nissan Altima with three people inside.
The officer was on stationary patrol near Freedom Ford and watched as the Altima went northbound on 20th Avenue and pulled into the Burger King parking lot. The occupants exited the vehicle and left the officer’s sight. They soon returned and exited onto the highway.
The officer followed the Altima and attempted to make a traffic stop due to an improperly secured temporary paper license plate flapping in the wind.
The vehicle initially pulled over, but as the officer approached he noticed the occupants making quick movements and suddenly the Altima fled westbound on U.S. Highway 70.
The officer followed in pursuit with lights and sirens activated, but the Altima continued to flee as it turned onto Church and went down the wrong side of the roadway at 60 mph.
The Altima then fled northbound onto High School Avenue, turned westbound onto U.S. Highway 70, and then southbound onto Reay Lane. At that point, the Safford officer terminated his pursuit, but other law enforcement, including the Graham County Sheriff’s Office, Thatcher Police Department, Pima Police Department, and Arizona Department of Public Safety, continued the pursuit and the Altima was found abandoned on Moody Street just north of Brinkerhoff Street.
Officers received information that a man had fled from the car to a residence on Brinkerhoff Street. Once contacted the occupants of the home had the suspect exit to the awaiting officers and Quintana was taken into custody.
During questioning, Quintana allegedly said he didn’t know the names of the two people in the Altima with him but that he picked them up at the Mt. Graham Apartments and traveled to the Burger King to perform a drug exchange.
By the time officers inventoried the Altima for a tow impound, there was only one fentanyl pill and some drug paraphernalia inside.
