SELLERSBURG, Ind. — An Arizona man is behind bars after authorities found him in southern Indiana after he was believed to be dead.
Christen Allen Wright, 38, of Phoenix was arrested by the Southern Indiana Regional Swat Team in Sellersburg, Indiana on Friday evening.
He had a felony warrant for his arrest out of Maricopa County, Arizona. The warrant included charges of sexual misconduct with a minor, molestation of a child, and three counts of sexual conduct with a minor.
The Clark County Sheriff's Office, El Mirage Arizona Police Department and the Jeffersonville Police Department worked together on a joint investigation after authorities learned Wright might be in southern Indiana.
According to authorities in Arizona, Wright tried to deceive investigators by faking his own death.
Wright reportedly drove to a hospital in Arizona and had an acquaintance call his family to tell them he was dead.
The acquaintance then posed as a nurse dressed in scrubs to deceive family members when they came to the hospital to collect Wright's personal property.
Police say faking his own death assisted Wright in fleeing Arizona.
However, El Mirage Police said detectives quickly learned Wright was not dead, because they found no record of his death.
“If you die, there’s a process the hospital goes through in notifying people and there’s going to be an actual record and proof of the death,” Lt. Jimmy Chavez said. “In this particular case, we did not find that through our investigation and that’s when we started digging a little deeper.”
Wright is under investigation for alleged sex child crimes against one victim that happened in 2016 to 2017. He is accused of four counts of sexual conduct with a minor, and one count of child molestation.
El Mirage Police was notified of Wright’s alleged death by MCAO the weekend of March 18. He was supposed to be in court for a judicial hearing on March 20. A judged issued his arrest warrant on the 22. He was arrested in Indiana just two days later.
“Due to the seriousness of the charges, he’s facing, it was important to get him back into custody,” Lt. Chavez said.
Wright is currently being held in the Clark County Jail, awaiting extradition to Maricopa County, Arizona.
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