A man detained and subsequently released in the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie is seeking $2.5 million from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department — or he may sue.
An attorney for Carlos Palazuelos and two others filed a notice of claim on Monday, July 27, addressed to the department, Sheriff Chris Nanos and Detective Eric Gieron, alleging that Palazuelos had been wrongfully arrested at gunpoint on February 10 and that a search on his family’s property led to “significant property damage.”
The notice, obtained by AZ Family on Thursday, July 30, claimed Palazuelos was arrested and held “without probable cause for approximately seven to eight hours.” The notice alleged “Carlos’ arrest was made in a public fashion that was intended to damage Carlos’ reputation and subject him to humiliation and suspicion by implicating Carlos in the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie.”
At the same time, a search warrant was executed on Palazuelos’ family home, owned by Josefina Maddox, where a family member, Daniel Maddox, was placed in handcuffs by police, who “led him outside to a van and ordered him to sit on the van’s running board,” according to the notice. “Deputies held Daniel under guard at the van for several hours, where he was not free to leave.”
Palazuelos is seeking $2.5 million, and Daniel is seeking $500,000, alleging assault, false arrest, negligence, defamation and false imprisonment. Josefina is seeking $250,000, accusing police of trespass.
Palazuelos “was falsely arrested for a crime that he had nothing to do with in a public fashion. Sheriff Nanos, Detective Gieron and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department know that Carlos is an innocent man who had nothing to do with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie,” the claim alleged. “Despite that, they have refused to clear Carlos’ name and have forced him to live under a cloud of suspicion since the time of his arrest.”
Us has reached out to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for comment.
On February 10, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told Us that it had “detained a subject during a traffic stop south of Tucson,” adding, “The subject is currently being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.” The department said at the time that it was also conducting a “court-authorized search” of a home in Rio Rico, Arizona.
After Palazuelos was released, he claimed in an interview with ABC15 Arizona’s Ford Hatchett that his car had been pulled over by police and he was told he was being “detained for kidnapping.”
“I asked, ‘The kidnapping of who?’ and they told me this lady … I don’t know her name,” Palazuelos said at the time. “I told [officers], ‘I work in Tucson for GLS. I might have delivered a package to your house, but I never kidnapped anybody.’”
Palazuelos said he was ultimately told he was “free to go” after answering the officers’ questions.
Nancy, the mother of Today show cohost Savannah Guthrie, has been missing for nearly six months. Police believe the 84-year-old was abducted from her home outside of Tucson, Arizona, in the early hours of February 1. No suspects have been identified.
