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Police arrest midtown homicide suspect

Posted at 5:29 AM, Aug 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-25 16:57:54-04

Tucson police arrested 26-year-old Eugene Orlando Payne Jr.  in connection with a midtown homicide from earlier in the week.

Police say Payne was released from the hospital and booked into the Pima County Jail for 1st Degree Murder and 1st Degree Burglary.

Police say they worked in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals to find the truck he drove off in after shooting and killing 39-year-old Eric Noriega Aug. 21.

Police tried to stop the truck near South Midvale Park Road and West Lavender Mountain Place, but the driver refused to yield. After a short pursuit, the truck stopped in the 5800 block of South Mahan Drive.  The driver was detained without incident, but the passenger, Payne Jr., ran off on foot. He tried to climb a wall in the 5800 block of South Blucher Drive, but an officer and K-9 managed to subdue him and take him into custody with non-life threatening injuries.

The driver of the vehicle has been identified as 49-year-old George Anthony Contreras. 

Contreras was arrested for Hindering Prosecution, Unlawful Felony Flight, Possession of Marijuana and unrelated misdemeanor warrants. 

He has also been booked into the Pima County Jail.