Salt Lake couple charged with helping immigrant escape border patrol

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake couple is now facing federal theft charges, accusing them of helping a handcuffed man escape from federal authorities who had detained him during an immigration enforcement operation outside a Home Depot location.

The man's escape in October — running across a busy Salt Lake street, his arms cuffed behind him — was captured on video and posted at the time to social media, garnering a lot of attention. But that didn't end things. Federal officials subsequently launched an investigation, and George Sanchez-Juarez, 22, and Kelzie Ryann Luna, 21, now face misdemeanor charges in connection with the incident. They were to appear in federal court on Friday.

Sanchez-Juarez and Luna were allegedly driving past the site of the immigration enforcement operation on 2100 South on Oct. 8 last year when the handcuffed man, who has not been publicly identified, asked them for help. He got in their car, a Volkswagen, and the vehicle "then sped away to the west on 2100 South," according to court documents.

Sanchez-Juarez and Luna, identified as boyfriend and girlfriend, then allegedly bought bolt cutters and cut the handcuffs off the man, an immigrant suspected of being in the country illegally. Later, they took to social media to post a video of the incident — featured on the Instagram page of SLCScoop — and "cursed ICE and trumpeted their 'heroism,'" the charges state.

Each now faces a single count of what court documents call "theft, conversion and disposal of government property and aiding and abetting." The charges more specifically cite them for theft of the handcuffs used to detain the suspect immigrant and call the offense a misdemeanor.

"Subject 1's escape from lawful arrest and his flight in the white Volkswagen were captured by surveillance cameras in the area and by bystanders. And video of the escape was posted on social media. Some misguided people cheered his escape and evasion," court documents say.

Seeking '4 previously deported aliens'

The incident began as an enforcement action by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the Home Depot at 328 W. 2100 South in Salt Lake City.

"Before going to the Home Depot, the officers had identified four previously deported aliens who were expected to be in the Home Depot parking lot. So, the officers went to the parking lot to find and arrest the aliens so they could place the aliens in removal proceedings," say documents in Sanchez-Juarez and Luna's case.

They had cuffed the man who escaped, identified as Subject 1, and placed him in a car when the unidentified agent monitoring him turned his or her attention to another detainee, identified as Subject 2. Subject 2 was outside the car, resisting detention by another agent.

"While the agent turned to Subject 2, Subject 1 escaped from the car. Still handcuffed, with his hands behind his back, Subject 1 fled south into the 2100 South westbound travel lanes at the busy intersection by the parking lot, and then east along the sidewalk. An officer followed Subject 1 as he fled, but had to wait for traffic to subside before she could cross the street after him," federal court documents say. That's when the man got in the Volkswagen.

As part of the subsequent investigation, officials honed in on Luna's Instagram account after she posted a response to the video of the escape.

"The guy in the video has papers of residence and they did not care," states Luna's post, according to court documents.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigators subsequently accessed more of Luna's Instagram posts after securing a search warrant, finding more information allegedly incriminating her, including voice messages.

In one of the voice messages, Luna says the handcuffed man approached the car she and Sanchez-Juarez were traveling in, asking for help, when they told him to get in the vehicle. They "took him to his friend's house, and we went and bought bolt cutters first though, and we cut that (expletive) off of him," Luna allegedly said.

U.S. authorities aren't seeking to detain Luna or Sanchez-Juarez, but spell out several conditions for their release as the matter winds its way through court. Among other things, they aren't to interfere with other attempts by federal officials to detain immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally.

"When Luna and Sanchez-Juarez spirited the alien away in their getaway car with those handcuffs on him, they stole those handcuffs (and the man). And when they bought bolt cutters and cut off the ... handcuffs, they converted and destroyed government property," court documents allege.

Court papers don't provide details about the man's whereabouts.

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