Sheriff: deputy injured “alive”; manhunt in progress

PHOENIX – A manhunt was underway on Saturday for a suspect who escaped after allegedly attacking and seriously injuring a sheriff’s deputy who was treating the man arrested at a suburban Phoenix sheriff’s substation, the Phoenix subway sheriff said.

The injured deputy was in critical condition at a hospital, where he was taken after another deputy found him unconscious and bleeding from his face, Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said. “Our assistant is on life support.”

The identity of the injured MP was not disclosed. The sheriff identified the suspect as 30-year-old Clinton Hurley.

Penzone said the deputy treated Hurley at the Sheriff’s Substation in Avondale after Hurley was arrested on felony arrest warrants.

Hurley took the MP’s SUV, smashed it through a fence and drove off, but then hijacked another vehicle, Penzone said.

Penzone did not say if the wounded deputy’s weapon was missing. But he described Hurley as armed and dangerous.

Hurley was released from the state prison system in December, Penzone said.

The state Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reintegration website said Hurley was released in December after being jailed on a conviction for attempted pedophilia.

Penzone said Hurley was awarded a $ 10,000 reward and that anyone helping Hurley “will be the target of law enforcement.”

“It’s a perfect example of what evil looks like,” Penzone said. “Either stand with us and fight evil, or evil wins.”

The deputy, Penzone said, was “a good young man who is ready to fight to protect you and your family.”

Hurley has been described as white, 5 feet 9 inches, 190 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, the sheriff’s office said.