Geiger escapee, girlfriend arrested in Arizona stop
A man accused of escaping from Geiger Corrections Center last week was arrested Thursday morning with his girlfriend during a traffic stop in Arizona.
Roger Nordling broke out of Geiger a week ago, authorities said, but he and Deborah Barden already had marijuana seeds packed up and ready to sell.
An officer with the Arizona Department of Public Safety stopped the pair about 6:40 a.m. on U.S. Highway 60 northwest of Phoenix, said Harold Sanders, the agency’s public information officer.
The two were arrested on drug charges and the warrants issued in Spokane County, Sanders said.
“They had a number of baggies with marijuana seeds bagged up for sale,” he said.
Nordling is wanted in Spokane County for second-degree escape, and Barden has a Spokane County warrant for conspiracy to commit first-degree escape, said Spokane County sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan. He added that Nordling’s charge will likely be amended to first-degree escape.
In addition to the conspiracy charge, Barden was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and transporting marijuana for sale, Sanders said. Nordling was charged with the same drug offenses, as well as hindering prosecution, providing false information and identity theft because he gave someone else’s information to the arresting officer.
Sanders said Arizona authorities believe the pair had been in Las Vegas.
Just one week ago, Barden helped break Nordling out of jail, authorities say.
Nordling asked to get some fresh air during a Sept. 27 counseling session at Geiger Corrections Center. Authorities say that when he left the building, he hopped a fence with the help of fellow inmate Anthony I. Dieterle and jumped into Barden’s 1991 blue Mercury Topaz.
According to Reagan, Dieterle may also be charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree escape.
License plate information from Barden’s car had been entered into a nationwide law enforcement database, which alerted Arizona authorities to the escape charges in Spokane.
The getaway car was the vehicle the two were in when apprehended in Arizona, authorities said. Nordling’s Geiger jumpsuit and flip-flops were found in the car.
Nordling was in Geiger after threatening a bail bond employee with a pistol in March as the employee tried to apprehend him. He then threatened a deputy with a gun in April when the Eastern Washington Joint Fugitive Task Force found him in Idaho.
Sanders said the Maricopa County and Spokane County prosecutors will have to work out whether Nordling and Barden are tried for the drug charges in Arizona first or are extradited to face the escape charges in Spokane County.