Escape charge dropped against inmate accused of leaving Indian River County Sheriff’s BBQ to have sex with woman
By Malcolm Shields
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VERO BEACH, Fla. (WPBF) — A State Attorney’s Office on the Treasure Coast determined whether to prosecute an inmate at a county jail on an escape charge.
According to court documents in Indian River County, on Aug. 23, an agreement was reached to not prosecute Hartley E. Sanchez, 36, on an escape charge.
As part of a negotiated plea, Sanchez pleaded no contest to a 2025 possession of methamphetamine and resisting arrest charges. In exchange, the state attorney’s office declined to prosecute the escape case.
Court documents note Sanchez was adjudicated guilty by the court, sentenced to one year and one month in state prison for the drug charge, 364 days in county jail for resisting arrest of an officer without violence, his driver’s license was suspended for six months, and he was ordered to pay court costs.
All charges were served by Sanchez at the same time.
The State Attorney’s Office in Indian River County told WPBF 25 News on Wednesday, Sept. 9, that the facts of the escape case revealed that Sanchez did not leave the facility, but went to the restroom that was on the facility grounds.
While going to the restroom, the state attorney’s office said Sanchez walked past sheriff’s deputies and was not stopped.
There was no evidence that Sanchez attempted to leave the facility, but he went to the restroom for an unauthorized activity.
Florida Department of Corrections database records indicate that Sanchez, who has a lengthy criminal record, was an inmate in the state prison system from Aug. 28, 2026, to Aug. 31, 2026, and is out of the department of corrections custody.
Sanchez had been in the Indian River County jail since his arrest on Aug. 15, 2025.
According to an Indian River County Sheriff’s Office report, on March 4, 2026, Sanchez, who was in custody at the Indian River County Jail on drug, theft and resisting arrest charges, was working a sheriff’s office-sponsored barbecue event serving barbecue.
At some point, Sanchez is seen on surveillance video leaving the food serving line and meeting two unknown women at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boat display where the portable toilets were.
According to the sheriff’s office report, Sanchez and one of the unknown women entered a portable toilet and engaged in intercourse inside the portable toilet.
During an interview with deputies, Sanchez said he engaged in sex with one of the women in the portable toilet.
It was also determined that the woman was a former inmate of the Indian River County Jail.
WPBF 25 News contacted the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, Sept. 9, for comment on changes to the sheriff’s barbecue event and is awaiting a response.
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