A woman was jailed on suspicion of chaining her son for hours over the weekend at her west Phoenix home.
Meilin Jaqueline Vasquez Maradiaga, 33, is charged on suspicion of her adult son’s unlawful imprisonment, according to court records.
About 5:46 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a call at a home in the area of South 32nd Drive and South 31st Avenue from a man who said his mother was restraining him with chains, according to a probable cause statement. Officers spoke with the mother, Vasquez Maradiaga, who directed them to the son chained by his ankle to a bunk bed in a bedroom in a house in the back, charging documents say.
Vasquez Maradiaga gave officers a key to unlock the padlock used to chain her son, according to court documents. The son was unchained and Vasquez Maradiaga was taken into custody without incident, court documents say.
According to court records, Vasquez Maradiaga said the incident began about 11 p.m. Saturday when she and her son were arguing over him again asking for money for his fentanyl pill addiction. She said she refused to give her son money to pay off a drug dealer before he threatened to damage her car and hurt his siblings, whom he had begun to approach, according to court documents.The mother grabbed the son and they struggled, whereupon he began slamming his head on the ground and talking about suicide, court documents say.Vasquez Maradiaga, according to charging documents, asked her brother to help restrain her son using ropes and the two bound his hands and feet together before releasing him. She received her son’s consent to chain him to the bed for his and everyone’s safety, according to court documents.
But shortly after, Vasquez Maradiaga’s son changed his mind and wanted to leave, but she refused his request and kept him chained for six to seven hours, according to court documents. The son found a cellphone inside the house in the back and called police, court documents say. Vasquez Maradiaga said she did not unchain her son because she feared he might go on a drug binge and overdose, kill himself or hurt someone else.
Jail and court records show that as of Tuesday morning, Vasquez Maradiaga is being held in jail with a preliminary court hearing on May 18.