Notorious Gangster Plots Cunning Jail Break

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Aaron Garcia was captured in Colima, Mexico on Nov. 6, 2009, after three years on the lam.

After a lengthy run with the Norteno street gang, cops say Aaron Lopez Garcia had compiled quite an impressive rap sheet with convictions for rape, residential burglary, theft, assault, possessions of narcotics, and unlawful possession of a weapon.

After his last conviction, Garcia had a 10-year sentence in state prison to look forward to  -- but he had other plans.

Working with fellow inmates, he orchestrated a plan to break out of a Sunnyside, Wash. correctional facility.

On November 29, 2006, the group punched through the ceiling of the jailhouse shower stall with a metal rod from a mop bucket.  Garcia made his way on to the roof with the three other felons, all of whom were subsequently captured.

Garcia is thought to have badly injured his ankle falling to the ground after a makeshift rope made from a bed sheet snapped.

He was also thought to have possible frostbite on his feet. 

However, cops say Garcia managed to elude cops for three years with the help of his girlfriend, Nastassja Wyman, and his gang network.

"Garcia has a lot of status because of his age and length in the gang - he's much smarter and bolder than the average gang member," Sgt. Joe Salinas of the Yakima Police Department had said. 

"His jail breakout took lots of planning and orchestrating of other people, especially on the outside," Salinas said. "This guy has lots of other people willing to do his bidding."

Mastermind And Manipulator

It is that kind of influence that Garcia wielded on fellow inmate, Michael Hutson.

Cops believe that Garcia manipulated Hutson to get his girlfriend, Amanda Clark, to pick up the escapees when they made a break for it.

However, the 300-pound Hutson was probably never destined to see life beyond the jail yard since the hole Garcia made in the shower stall wouldn't have been big enough for Hutson to fit through.

Police believe that Hutson was duped from the beginning and ultimately discarded by Garcia.

Months later, a tip came in that Garcia was in Colorado and law enforcement blanketed the state with press releases.

On March 30, 2007, the U.S. Marshals received a call that Garcia had just rented an apartment unit in Estes Park. By the time a SWAT team arrived at the residence that night, Garcia had already fled.

Another tip indicated that he was trying to buy guns.  Evidence found at the scene showed that Garcia and his girlfriend, a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, were using several aliases including fake Resident Alien cards.

U.S. Marshals say that Garcia is a dangerous member of the Norteno street gang... and he even has the word "Norteno" tattooed across his chest.

On Nov. 6, 2009, the search for Garcia ended in the state of Colima, Mexico.

After working leads for months, a multi-agency task force consisting of Mexican and U.S. authorities uncovered Garcia in the town of Manzanillo.

The following day Garcia was ejected by Mexican authorities as an undesirable and handed off to U.S. Marshals in Los Angeles. 

Garcia's Rocky Road Ends Near Ice Cream Plant

Aaron Lopez Garcia was captured in the state of Colima, Mexico on Nov. 6, 2009.
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It had been almost exactly three years since Aaron Garcia and three other inmates executed a daring prison break from the Sunnyside City Jail in Washington State.

While Garcia's cohorts were picked up by authorities in 2006, the search for the Norteno gang member went international as the months progressed.

On Nov. 6,. 2009, the manhunt ended when Mexican authorities in the state of Colima arrested Garcia near an ice cream factory in Manzanillo.

The U.S. Marshals Service had been working on leads that placed Garcia in Colima and they had also received a tip from someone who saw Garcia on the U.S. Marshals' website.

The arrest was a result of efforts from Colima Police, the U.S.M.S., CBP agents, and Mexican immigration officials.

The U.S. Marshals say that Garcia may have been in Manzanillo for a few months and in Colima for a year.

Garcia was ejected from Mexico as an undesirable on Nov. 7, 2009 and arrived in Los Angeles later that evening.

He was expected to be transported back to Washington State after an initial hearing.