Contributed Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Clayton Rackley was mistakenly released from jail while having a warrant with $20,000 cash-only bond relating to shoplifting and trafficking in stolen property charges.
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A man who ran from a Graham County Sheriff’s Office deputy and ended up injuring himself in the process to avoid being taken to jail on a warrant with a $20,000 cash-only bond was apprehended with methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia but was then mistakenly released from jail Jan. 29.
Clayton Wade Rackley, 22, was arrested and booked into the Graham County Adult Detention Facility on Jan. 25 after a deputy located him moaning in the wilderness about a quarter-mile from W. Cottontail Trail and off S. U.S. Highway 191. Rackley had run from the deputy earlier in the evening after he startled some residents.
Rackley was mistakenly released Jan. 29, however, after he was seen on his new charges of possession of a narcotic drug and possession of drug paraphernalia. According to Sheriff P.J. Allred, a rookie detention officer apparently didn’t realize Rackley was also being held on his $20,000 cash-only bond issued by Graham County Superior Court Judge Michael D. Peterson and was released.
Allred said Rackley’s attorney was notified of the mistake but was unable to contact Rackley. Additionally, the detention officer has been counseled regarding the mistake.
Rackley’s bond is relating to charges from October 2018 of fraudulent schemes and artifices, two counts of shoplifting, and trafficking in stolen property.
Once the mistake was realized, the Graham County Attorney’s Office was notified and a new warrant for Rackley’s arrest was issued Jan. 31. Additionally, he has a court date scheduled for Feb. 12 in which his presence is required. Rackley will be taken into custody at the court hearing if he is not apprehended prior, and if he fails to show, additional charges will be levied against him.
On Jan. 25, a deputy responded to a residence off W. Cottontail Trail at about 6:54 p.m. and when he questioned Rackley if he had anything on him the deputy should be aware of, Rackley allegedly squirted and threw his water bottle at the deputy and fled on foot into the darkness of the desert.
After not being able to find Rackley, a short while later a man called Graham Dispatch and said he could hear someone yelling in a wash near his home.
When located, Rackley said he had fallen off a cliff and into a canal. Rackley was located near a small creek and was wet from his boots to his stomach, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
Rackley said he didn’t mean to startle anyone and was just looking for a ride after being left without a ride home. When the deputy
Upon being searched, the deputy located a small plastic bag of methamphetamine and a used syringe that Rackley admitted he used to inject meth, according to the report.
Rackley was treated at the scene by paramedics from Lifeline Ambulance and was then transported to the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Facility, where he received further treatment and was medically cleared to be incarcerated. He was then taken to the jail and booked on his warrant and drug charges.
