Twin brothers charged for allegedly aiding jail escape

CLOVIS — Three weeks since the short-lived escape of a female jail inmate, officials filed charges on twin brothers for allegedly aiding in the effort.

Police say Donald Gibson, 39, picked up Kaitlyn Martinez-Arington, 26, moments after her escape on Aug. 6 and drove her around trying to find his brother before dropping her off near Hillcrest Park and meeting up with investigators to deny any involvement.

David Gibson, 39, was arrested the following morning after police found him hiding in a Clovis apartment with Martinez-Arington. Police say the two were in a “boyfriend-girlfriend relationship,” according to court records.

Both Gibsons were charged Tuesday with harboring or aiding a felon in connection with the jailbreak. David Gibson was arrested on Aug. 7 along with Martinez-Arington after police found them hiding in an attic near Cameo Elementary School, but the other twin wasn’t arrested until early Friday morning.

Donald Gibson was also charged with tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, for allegedly deleting records of his phone contact with the escapee during the night she was at large.

Police say Martinez-Arington called Donald Gibson from the jail just moments before she overpowered a contract health-care worker and escaped down an alleyway.

According to the Gibsons’ arrest warrant affidavits, the timeline of the escape is as follows:

• On Aug. 6 at 9:10 p.m., Martinez-Arington places a 30-second (recorded) call from the jail’s women’s annex to Donald Gibson. She doesn’t say anything during the call, but “had been acting as if she were using the telephone to allow her to stay in the vicinity of an exit door waiting...”

She escaped moments later after following the health-care employee out a door and down a hallway to the exit.

• At 10:57 p.m. that night, investigators call Donald Gibson, who confirmed Martinez-Arington called him but said he “was unaware she had escaped ... and denied having any personal or telephonic contact with her other than the initial call.

“He said he was just out driving around and would meet (Curry County Sheriff Office) Investigator (Matt) Whittington in the area of Sycamore and Mabry to be questioned,” wrote CCSO Investigator Sandy Loomis.

By then, police had already contacted a witness at Donald Gibson’s residence who said “he had gone to pick her up.”

• At 11:08 p.m. that night, Donald Gibson met up with Whittington and told him “that he had deleted all of his call history after receiving the call from the jail.” He then “admitted getting a second call from her but denied having any contact with her.” A search of Gibson’s phone confirmed that call data from the recent hours had been deleted.

• The next day, after Martinez-Arington’s arrest, she told police “that after she escaped, she called Donald Gibson and he picked her up in his brown pickup to take her to find his brother, David. She said after being in the truck for a while with Donald Gibson, he kicked her out in the vicinity of 7th and Georgia, which is close to the location where Whittington met Gibson.”

She also told police she got a ride to David Gibson’s residence around 1 a.m. on Aug. 7, but did not specify from whom.

The two men had their first appearances on the new charges Friday afternoon in magistrate court, at which time they were conditionally appointed a public defender and ordered to be held without bond, according to court records.