Tribal Officer Charged With Abandoning Prisoners In The Cold

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Phoenix returned a two-count indictment today charging former White Mountain Apache Tribal police officer, Glenn Cromwell, with federal crimes in connection with maliciously abandoning Anthony Archuleta and Barry Lowe in dangerously cold weather conditions in December 2008.

Today’s indictment was announced by Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice; Dennis K. Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona; and Robert C. Rudge Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office.

The indictment alleges that on Dec. 2, 2008, Cromwell transported a 29-year-old man who was in custody to a remote area, and then abandoned him in extreme cold weather conditions, resulting in bodily injury.  The indictment also charges that on Dec. 6, 2008, Cromwell transported a 56-year-old man, who was also in custody, to a remote location, and then abandoned him in extreme cold weather conditions, resulting in bodily injury.  

The indictment charges Cromwell with two counts of deprivation of civil rights.   Cromwell faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  

The ongoing case is being investigated by the Phoenix Field Office of the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney D.W. Tunnage of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison S. Bachus for the District of Arizona.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.