Immigrant suspect says jail officials broke her arm (Arizona Republic)

Immigrant suspect says jail officials broke her arm

by Daniel González and JJ Hensley - Mar. 14, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

A woman suspected of being an illegal immigrant said Friday that her arm was broken when jail officials from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office tried to force her to sign a document volunteering to be sent to Mexico.

Maria del Carmen Garcia Martinez, 46, said six jail officials threw her to the floor, held her down with their feet, stomped on her and twisted her left arm behind her back after she refused to sign the document.

The accusations come as the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the Sheriff's Office for suspected civil-rights abuses and the House Judiciary Committee is preparing to hold investigative hearings into racial-profiling allegations against deputies enforcing immigration laws.

Maricopa County Sheriff's officials gave a different account of the incident, which happened at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Spokesman Doug Matteson said Garcia Martinez balled her hand into a fist as detention officials at the Lower Buckeye Jail tried to obtain a fingerprint. The print was needed on a federal form as part of her transfer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Garcia Martinez then backed away and started to yell and scream, Matteson said. Matteson said more officers arrived and tried to get her fingerprint but Garcia Martinez dropped to the floor and refused to get up. She tried to bite officers after they placed her in a control hold, he said.

"After that we stood her up and managed to get one finger out of a fist and actually get the fingerprint we needed," Matteson said.

Garcia Martinez was turned over to ICE officials on Thursday. ICE officials took her to St. Joseph's Hospital, ICE spokesman Vincent Picard said.

Emergency-room doctors treated Garcia Martinez for an "acute left elbow fracture" and other injuries, according to the woman's hospital records.

ICE officials released Garcia Martinez pending a hearing in April, Picard said.

Garcia Martinez said she was arrested March 6 after being suspected of showing a Phoenix police officer a fraudulent California identification card. The officer was at her north Phoenix house to ask questions about signs from a yard sale.

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