FLORENCE, Ariz. — Communities across Pinal County were on edge for nearly 110 hours as two highly dangerous criminals were on the run after escaping from the Florence prison.
One man, John Charpiot, was a convicted child molester while the other, David Harmon, was a serial rapist.
After days on the run, the two were spotted in a cotton field last Thursday in Coolidge, just minutes after attacking a man and a woman at their home about 13 miles from the prison.
Now that the inmates are again in custody awaiting new charges, there's a question many in the community are asking: If the inmates attacked a family but a witness was the first to call 911, who gets the $70,000 reward?
The short answer? Nobody knows yet.
The four 911 calls
According to a records request obtained by 12 News from the Coolidge Police Department, four 911 calls were made the morning of Jan. 28.
Time codes were not included in the records request so it is unclear which call came in first.
1. Joe Marquez
One call was made by Joe Marquez, a man named by DPS Director Colonel Heston Silbert during a press conference Thursday when he announced that the inmates had been captured.
Marquez was on the phone with a dispatcher for just over seven minutes. His call began by reporting that he spotted Charpiot and Harmon in a cotton field near Randolph and Vail roads in Coolidge.
"They’re right here at a farm!" Marquez said.
"You said these are the people that escaped the prison?" asked the dispatcher.
"Yes yes yes yes!" Marquez said.
"Okay and what makes you thinks that those are them?" the dispatcher said.
"Because they’re orange. Because the bottoms are still orange! The bottoms are still orange!" Marquez explained.
Minutes later, Coolidge PD and U.S. Marshals deputies would arrive. Body camera footage shows them chasing down the suspects in that field and taking them into custody.
"Did they catch them?" asked the dispatcher.
"Yes, I'm pulling up to them right now," Marquez said.
"Okay thank you so much for calling. I appreciate it," the dispatcher said.
"Alright. I want that reward money! Woo!" Marquez exclaimed.
2. Luis Alvarez
Luis Alvarez also called 911 that morning after the two inmates had attacked his wife, beating her up to the point that Alvarez thought she may have died.
“I thought they killed her inside," said Alvarez. “She screamed at me. They grabbed her and started dragging her all the way in."
In an interview with 12 News, Alvarez said the inmates were demanding money and the keys to their truck. One of them picked up a shovel, swinging for Alvarez's head.
"They were very crazy. Very crazy," Alvarez said.
Alvarez said as a man driving a truck passed by his home amid the chaos, he yelled for help.
He said the inmates were exhausted from the fight and took off.
Alvarez managed to call 911. There was a language barrier when he called.
"911, location of your emergency?" the dispatcher asked in English.
“Do you speak Spanish?” Alvarez asked in Spanish.
"I do not give me one second, okay? Let me get Nogales on the line, okay?" the dispatcher said.
“I have a lot of problems here!” Alvarez said frantically.
"I’m getting Nogales on the line they’re gonna translate for me, okay? Are you calling about the two people?" the dispatcher said.
“The two guys, the two guys from the prison, they’re here at my house!” Alvarez said.
By the time the dispatcher got a Spanish speaking dispatcher from Nogales to assist, Alvarez was occupied with something else.
Police arrested the inmates a short time later.
3. Victim's daughter
The third 911 call released to 12 News was made by Luis Alvarez's daughter.
"My mom just called me and said there's people at her house. It's just her and my dad," she said. "She said that my dad's trying to, I don't know, fight with them or something?"
"She said that they're outside. I think they're fighting with my dad. I don't know why. She just called me crying telling me if I could call you guys because she tried calling and I think she's just too scared to actually make a call," their daughter said.
4. Victim's friend
"I know where they're at!" said the caller talking about the escaped inmates. "My friend just came and told me that somebody said they're at their house and they're scared and they're at their house. I don't know if one or both of them are there but she just came and told me to call 911."
The dispatcher informed the caller that police were already at the scene and had captured the inmates.
"You got the inmates?" the caller said. "Alright! So me and her get a reward right?"
How do rewards work?
According to Silent Witness, an organization created to help solve and prevent crimes across Arizona, the reward process is not always cut and dry.
Silent Witness often partners with law enforcement agencies to offer rewards. Rewards are offered to those who provide information that lead to an arrest of a suspect.
In the case of the escaped inmates, Silent Witness and the state were offering up to $25,000 per inmate and the U.S. Marshal's Service offered an additional $10,000 per inmate for a grand total of $70,000.
If someone calls in a tip to Silent Witness (480-WITNESS), that person remains anonymous and is given a unique identification number. Silent Witness then recommends that person call back about once a month to ask if his/her tip led to an arrest.
In the case of the escaped inmates, however, the callers called 911 due to the urgency of the situation.
A Silent Witness spokesperson says they do not have access to 911 calls so in those cases, they rely on the lead investigating agencies to determine who may be eligible for the reward money.
The spokesperson said in some cases, multiple people may have played a role in an arrest so they may divide the reward among them.
Silent Witness has a community board that meets to review each case to ensure the tipsters meet qualifications and will then work to issue payment. They would also decide how to divvy up a payout.
Those meetings are held in private.
The lead investigating agency
Arizona's Department of Public Safety is the lead investigating agency in the case of the escaped inmates.
Bart Graves, a DPS spokesman, tells 12 News the department is continuing to work on its investigation but they are not yet at the point of determining definitively who will get what in terms of a financial reward.
They were relying on the expertise of Silent Witness to guide them through their process, Graves said.
A U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson tells 12 News they are in communication with DPS. Their office had offered a combined $20,000 reward in this case.
Once DPS determines who is eligible, the detective there will notify the Marshals Service that there is a potential reward that should be paid out.
Once paperwork and verification are completed, the lead deputy from the U.S. Marshals Service would present their part of the reward.