Escape
December 27, 2011
Marshals capture CDCR teen escapee in Sacramento
U.S. marshals arrested a juvenile offender who escaped custody when he was allegedly driven away by accomplices during a community service project Tuesday around 10:55 a.m in Sutter Creek.
Angel Iniquez, 19, fled from the scene in a white compact car when California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, CDCR, officers were distracted helping another crew member, who hurt himself with a chainsaw, CDCR spokesman Bill Sessa said.
Sessa said there were two accomplices in the car with Iniquez...
LINK - News10.net
December 27, 2011
Teen escapes CDCR custody in Sutter Creek
The authorities search for a juvenile offender who escaped custody when he was driven away by accomplices during a roadside community service project Tuesday around 10:55 am.
Angel Iniquez, 19, fled from the scene in a white compact car when California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, CDCR, officers were distracted helping another crew member, who hurt himself with a chainsaw, CDCR spokesperson Bill Sessa said.
Sessa said there were two accomplices in the car with Iniquez..
LINK - News10.net
November 30, 2011
Salinas Valley State Prison escapees captured
Two minimum-security inmates who escaped nearly two weeks ago from the Salinas Valley State Prison near Soledad have been captured, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced today.
Omar Ramirez, 32, was taken into custody Tuesday night in Compton, the department said, and transported to the California Institution for Men in Chino. They said the second inmate, Yovanni Peralta Diaz, 22, was apprehended following a brief chase this morning in Madera. Diaz was transported back to Salinas Valley State Prison, the department said. The two were captured by the department’s Office of Correctional Safety and Special Service Unit, they said....
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
November 21, 2011
Search still on for Salinas Valley State Prison escapees
Two minimum security inmates escaped Saturday night from the Salinas Valley State Prison just north of Soledad, spokesman Lt. Michael Nilsson said.
Nilsson said Omar Ramirez, 32, and Yovanni Peralta Diaz, 22, were discovered missing at 9:44 p.m. by staff during a count at the Minimum Support Facility.
Shortly after the discovery, he said, the facility’s escape pursuit plan was launched, and administrative staff and local law enforcement agencies were consequently notified...
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
November 15, 2011
Inmates Escape Delta Conservation Camp
Two inmates are on the run after escaping from Delta Conservation Camp, just outside Suisun City, according to the California Correctional Center.
Both are described as minimum security inmates, officials said Tuesday morning. They were last seen about 4:30 a.m.
Eduardo Hernandez is about 5 feet 4 inches tall, 125 pounds and has brown eyes, black hair and a medium complexion, a news release states...
LINK - KCRA.com
October 15, 2011
Fire camp escapee sentenced to 16 months
An inmate who walked away from the low-security Washington Ridge Conservation Camp and led law enforcement officers on a chase across four counties before being recaptured a month later was sentenced to 16 months in state prison Friday.
Lincoln resident Jeffrey Lynn Shook, 37, fled from the conservation camp, located along Highway 20 between Nevada City and Washington, on July 7, 2010. Investigators learned that Shook was associated with the Aryan Brotherhood and might be hiding with a prison associate in the Happy Camp area about 40 miles west of Yreka...
LINK - TheUnion.com
October 7, 2011
Cost of cornfield manhunt near Tower City roughly $55,000
Local law enforcement agencies spent roughly $55,000 on the 22-hour manhunt earlier this week for the sex offender who escaped from a private prison transport van near Tower City.
And after speaking this morning with the owner of Extradition Transport of America LLC, Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said the public safety agencies that were involved in the search believe they’ll get paid for those costs...
LINK - InForum.com
October 5, 2011
Joseph Megna in Custody
The 29-year-old convicted sex offender who ran away from a prisoner transport van that had stopped along Interstate 94 on Tuesday, was recaptured around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The North Dakota Highway Patrol reported that combines and other equipment were brought to the scene of the cornfield 5 1/2 mile northwest of Tower city, where Joseph Megna was hiding, around 12:30 p.m..
The Washington State man was being transported from the east coast to California to face sex crime charges. He was scheduled to then be returned to Washington State, where authorities are awaiting to file new charges against him...
LINK - KSJBam.com
October 5, 2011
Corn Field Mowed Down to Find Escaped Sex Offender
Farmers are cutting down a massive North Dakota corn field today in an effort to flush out a convicted sex offender who bolted from a prison transport van and dashed into the field of eight-foot high corn stalks.
Joseph Megna, 29, escaped from the prison van around 4 p.m. Tuesday while the seven-passenger van had pulled over at a rest stop. The van was en route to Washington state where Megna was facing charges of child molestation. He was previously convicted on sex offense charges, and was being transported from Florida to face the new charges, police said...
LINK - ABCNews.go.com
October 5, 2011
More on escaped sex offender - private van en route to California before escape
Several dozen officers have zeroed on a farm field about five miles northwest of here in the second large-scale search for a suspect in eight days.
Barnes County Chief Deputy Don Fiebiger said 40 to 50 officers have surrounded a 1,000-acre cornfield after a deputy spotted 29-year-old Joseph Megna, a convicted high-risk sex offender who fled a transport van Tuesday afternoon, near a propane tank at a farm about 8 this morning.
An airplane and helicopter are also being used to search for Megna, who is not wearing any restraints...
LINK - InForum.com
October 5, 2011
Another inmate escapes private prisoner tranport company (CCA subsidiary TransCor)
Authorities are closing in on a convicted sex offender who escaped custody from a private company’s transport van west of here Tuesday afternoon.
"Right now, they spotted him back inside of a field, and we've got it saturated with people trying to collapse the perimeter," Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said at about 8:45 a.m.
The Barnes County field is located about three miles north and two miles west of Tower City, in an area the Red River Valley SWAT team was working overnight, Laney said...
LINK - DL-Online.com
October 4, 2011
Man Who Escaped From Police Car Sentenced
A parolee who kicked out the window of a patrol car and made a run for freedom through a downtown hotel was sentenced Tuesday to nearly 20 years in state prison.
Andrew David Collins, who has two prior robbery convictions, pleaded guilty in May to robbery, burglary, vandalism and resisting arrest. Judge Charles Gill sentenced him 19 years and eight months behind bars.
A clerk at a 7-Eleven store in El Cajon testified last year that Collins swung a baseball bat at him while stealing cigarettes on March 8, 2010. A clerk at an am/pm minimart in El Cajon testified that Collins tried to steal money but got away with only cigarettes on Feb. 10, 2010...
LINK - 10News.com
September 23, 2011
Private prison still having problems 1 year after escapes in Arizona
The Arizona Department of Corrections has toughened its oversight of private prisons since a well-publicized breakout last year and has made other security improvements, but potentially dangerous security lapses in state-run and privately operated facilities remain, auditors reported Friday.
The July 30, 2010 breakout from the medium-security Arizona State Prison in Golden Valley sparked a three-week national manhunt. All three were captured, but authorities said two of the inmates killed an Oklahoma couple in New Mexico while they were on the run...
LINK - TheRepublic.com
September 13, 2011
Parolee escapes after high-speed chase, carjacking
A parolee has eluded capture after leading authorities on a high-speed chase in Contra Costa County.
Concord police Lt. Bill Roche tells the Contra Costa Times that Dustin Edward Cooper was behind the wheel of a vehicle being chased Sunday afternoon. Cooper was wanted on an unspecified parole violation...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
August 22, 2011
Jail escape leads to 198 years prison
A parolee who broke out of a jail transport van using a razor blade to escape a third-strike trial for armed robbery and later offered to be a security expert for the Sheriff’s Office was sentenced Friday to 198 years to life in prison.
Daniel James Longorio, who represented himself during trial, was sentenced as a three-striker.
San Mateo County prosecutors do not seek a third strike in all cases but District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said his conduct warranted the severity...
LINK - SMDailyJournal.com
August 10, 2011
Ventura DJJ walk-aways captured in Riverside County
Two teenage offenders who walked away from a work crew near Studio City last week were arrested after a brief chase, authorities said Wednesday.
Pablo Ontaneda, 18, and Christopher Ochoa, 19, were picked up at a private home in Riverside County late Tuesday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. During a pursuit, they suffered what the department described as minor injuries. After treatment at a local hospital, they were booked into Riverside County Jail...
LINK - LATimes.com
August 9, 2011
Ventura DJJ escapees sought in Los Angeles
Corrections and law enforcement officers continue to search today for two Ventura Youth Correctional Facility inmates who escaped Friday while clearing brush in the Hollywood Hills near Studio City.
Pablo Ontaneda, 18, and Christopher Ochoa, 19, were part of a work crew participating in a fire prevention project near Mulholland Drive and Laurel Canyon Boulevard when supervisors noticed they were missing about 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Ontaneda has been held at the Camarillo youth-detention facility since June 2010 for second-degree robbery. Ochoa has been there since July 2008 for second-degree robbery and personal use of a firearm. The men are both from Los Angeles County, said Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation...
LINK - VCStar.com
June 26, 2011
Security lapses at AZ prisons, including GEO and MTC-operated private prisons
The same kinds of serious security lapses that led to the escape last July of three prisoners from the (privately-operated) Kingman state prison have been and continue to be found at the 14 other Arizona state and private prisons, according to interviews, audits, correspondence and other documents obtained by The Arizona Republic.
The failures include faulty alarm systems, holes under fences big enough to crawl through, broken perimeter lights and cameras, and scores of poor security practices across the board by state and private corrections officers and managers.
While Corrections Director Charles Ryan says the department is correcting these problems, it seems to be doing so on a piecemeal basis as they're found; and there is no evidence that wardens or senior managers, aside from those at Kingman itself, are being held accountable to address or prevent security issues...
LINK - AZCentral.com
June 20, 2011
AZ private prison escapee gets 43 years for kidnapping, aggravated asasult, weapons, etc.
An Arizona inmate whose escape sparked a three-week national manhunt last summer was sentenced Friday to 43 years behind bars for breaking out of prison and abducting two truck drivers whose big rig was used as a getaway vehicle.
John McCluskey's sentence came the same day a Mohave County jury found him guilty of escape, kidnapping, aggravated assault and other charges in his July 30 break from the medium-security Arizona State Prison in Golden Valley.
Authorities said McCluskey, a second inmate and their accomplice went on to kill Gary and Linda Haas, of Tecumseh, Okla., who were traveling through New Mexico on their way to an annual camping trip in Colorado...
LINK - AJC.com
April 18, 2011
2nd Corrections Officer killed by inmate in a week
A Bowie County inmate shot and killed a female deputy as he was being transported to the county courthouse.
The inmate, identified as Tucker Strickland, then fled from the courthouse in the county's prison van. He was recaptured about 30 minutes later by authorities in Ashdown, AR.
The sheriff's office says Strickland was in Rusk County for a psychological evaluation and had just returned to Bowie County for a court hearing...
LINK - KSLA.com
January 31, 2011
Despite escapes, security issues persist at problem-plagued private prison
Some Arizona officials say changes still need to be made at the Kingman prison, six months after the escape of three inmates reignited a debate about the role of private lockups in the state.
More work was needed at the prison, Arizona House Minority Leader Chad Campbell said after Department of Corrections director Charles Ryan appeared at a legislative committee hearing last week.
"It sounded like they're still pretty far away from meeting their obligation and they're still not sending any prisoners to that facility," Campbell said. "If we haven't gotten all these problems addressed, then obviously their response has been inadequate...."
LINK - HeraldExtra.com
January 28, 2011
Parolee arrested, escapes, caught in Capitola
A 28-year-old handcuffed man who ran from a state parole officer was arrested Wednesday near 41st Avenue and Gross Road, police reported.
David Perez initially was detained by state parole officers a few blocks from 41st Avenue and Gross Road, said Sgt. Matt Eller. Perez ran from authorities with a gray sweatshirt covering his cuffed wrists in front of him, Eller said. Capitola police spotted him on Gross Road and arrested Perez near 41st and Clares about 1:15 p.m., police said...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
September 23, 2010
Suspect in escape threw guns into Arizona prison, report says
A woman charged with helping three dangerous inmates escape from a northwest Arizona prison tossed handguns into the prison along with wire-cutting tools, according to a report released Monday.
A 46-page state Department of Corrections investigative report states Casslyn Welch provided the tools the three needed to cut through a perimeter fence to make their July 30 getaway.
The report also reveals that escapee John McCluskey borrowed a prohibited cell phone that another inmate used for "drug dealing" to speak with Welch minutes before she parked near the prison and walked to the fence to facilitate the breakout, according to fellow escapee Tracy Province...
LINK - LVRJ.com
September 7, 2010
Arizona prison escape, killings prompt lawsuit
The first legal action in the Arizona prison breakout that led to the killing of two campers has been filed against the state and the operator of the private prison.
Vivian Haas, the mother of murder victim Gary Haas, filed a $10 million claim against Arizona and a wrongful death lawsuit against Management Training Corp., the company that operates the private prison near Kingman where three fugitives escaped on July 30.
The notice of claim is a required precursor to a lawsuit...
LINK - AZCentral.com
August 3, 2010
Arizona cons’ private prison escape raises many questions
...While the manhunt continues, officials with the county, the Arizona Department of Corrections, and Management and Training Corp., the Utah-based company that operates the facility, are studying how the men penetrated several layers of security.
Unarmed prison officials sounded the alarm about 9 p.m. after Province, McCluskey and Renwick missed their head count, Johnson said. An hour passed before the Mohave County Sheriff's Office was notified that the men somehow had made their way through locked doors and avoided surveillance cameras, ground and fence sensors, guard towers and roving ground patrols before cutting a hole in fencing near a dormitory.
Officials are now investigating whether the escapees had inside help...
LINK - AZCentral.com
April 19, 2010
Inmate escapee (walk-away) from camp, captured in Stockton
Prison officials tracked a man who escaped from a work camp in Tehama County back to a Stockton home where was with his wife, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman said today.
Phillip Joseph Guthmiller, 29, walked away from the minimum security Ishi Conservation Camp in Paynes Creek on April 8, where he was serving time for 2008 second-degree burglary conviction in San Joaquin County.
Corrections Agents and Rancho Cordova Fugitive Apprehension Team took Guthmiller into custody at 7 a.m. Saturday at the Stockton home without incident, CDCR spokeswoman Margaret Pieper said...
LINK - Recordnet.com
January 19, 2010
Another former DJJ ward at Chad, another murder - manhunt, escape and re-capture
Justin Patrick Welch, the French Camp man charged with the vicious murder of a Wisconsin woman, is scheduled to appear in court today in Waukesha, Wis., after two nationwide manhunts, a daring escape and his eventual recapture.
Welch is suspected of slaying Kimberly Smith of Oconomowoc, Wis., on Oct. 1. Her body was found with hands bound behind her back and with multiple stab wounds, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper. Her 4-year-old son was home at the time, police have told the newspaper.
Welch became a suspect after his DNA was found on a knife and gloves found near the crime scene, and he is believed to have been hired through an acquaintance of Smith's ex-boyfriend, who was in a bitter custody dispute over the boy, according to published reports…
LINK - RecordNet.com
January 16, 2010
Escapee from private prisoner transport company caught
Van Buren police said fugitive Justin Welch hid in a vacant home not far from where he escaped from two private prison transport guards on Wednesday.
Neighbors who live near the home located on the corner of Broken Hill Street and Mitzi Lane said they found it hard to believe no one spotted Welch.
"Very shocked, I couldn't believe that it wasn't noticed," said Kristen Kipp who lives a few doors down from where police say Welch stayed. "I feel safe in this neighborhood."
Kipp's Husband Michael was out of town when Welch escaped but says he's surprised police didn't track him down sooner…
LINK - 4029tv.com
January 14, 2010
CA inmate escapes from private prison transport company in Arkansas
A manhunt was underway for Wisconsin murder suspect, Justin Welch.
He made a daring escape during a rest stop in Van Buren, Arkansas. Police there say the North Atlantic bus used to transport Welch made a stop at a rest area on I-40. That's when Welch stabbed a guard, took his weapon and shot another guard.
"He fired shots at the guard, Welch did, it was 2-3 rounds that he fired at him then he left in this van," said Lieutenant Brent Grill of the Van Buren Police Department…
LINK - WREG.com
December 23, 2009
Inmate On The Run After Escaping CCA Custody
Authorities are looking for an inmate who escaped from custody and jumped into the Withlacoochee River.
According to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, Terry N. Davis, 47, escaped custody just after 1 p.m. near Allen's Bait & Seafood on Elkins Road in Inglis.
Davis is described as a white male with brownish-gray hair and blue eyes. He is believed to have taken off his jail-issued orange jumpsuit. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 155 pounds…
LINK - CFNews13.com (Citrus County, Florida)
December 19, 2009
UPDATED: Inmate captured following escape from Humboldt County conservation camp
An inmate who escaped from the High Rock Conservation Camp in Humboldt County was captured today.
Raul Martinez, 30, was caught about 2 p.m. by corrections agents and local law enforcement officials near the camp, which is located outside Weott, California Correctional Center spokeswoman Margaret Pieper said today.
He was booked into Humboldt County Jail and the case will be sent to the Humboldt County district attorney for prosecution…
LINK - Redding.com
December 9, 2009
CCA lets inmate escape, inmate shoots cop, CCA blames cop for getting shot?
Private prison operator Corrections Corporation of America is denying responsibility in the shooting of a Nashville police officer, allegedly by an escaped inmate.
Sgt. Mark Chesnut claims in a lawsuit filed in October that the Nashville-based company was negligent in Joseph Jackson Jr.'s escape from an offsite doctor's office while he was an inmate of CCA's Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, Miss.
Chesnut stopped a rental car carrying Jackson and his cousin - Courtney Logan of Louisville, Ky. - on June 25, just hours after the escape…
LINK - WSMV.com
November 4, 2009
Soledad inmate captured, faces escape charges
An inmate who walked away from the Gabilan Conservation Fire Camp in Soledad early Monday was found today in Santa Barbara County, a camp official said.
Phillip Anthony Lopez, 41, was apprehended about 8 a.m. at a home in Lompoc by investigators from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Lt. Peter Spoto.
Spoto speculated that Lopez was staying with friends or family…
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
September 9, 2009
Private prison company cited for violations after escape
We told you earlier this week that an inmate escaped from the privately-run Burnet County jail in the Hill Country. The jail is run by Southwestern Correctional, the company interested in building a jail in Grayson County.
KTEN has learned the Burnet County jail has been cited by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. The commission issued a non compliance report for the county jail. The commission said the jail failed to "ensure that each inmate is observed face to face at least every hour by a corrections officer."
The TCJS also says a jailer who worked at the facility has resigned…
LINK - KTEN.com
More on this story here: www.statesman.com
September 6, 2009
Inmate escapes Long Beach facility
Authorities are looking for an inmate who escaped from a drug treatment furlough facility in Long Beach.
Christian Sanchez walked away from the facility Friday night, according to Terry Thornton with the California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Local police were immediately alerted and a search was begun. The 24-year-old Sanchez was sentenced in July after being convicted of receiving stolen property…
LINK - ABCLocal.GO.com
June 29, 2009
CCA says “some sort of breakdown” allowed escape, cop shooting
The company that operates the Mississippi prison where a man escaped and later was arrested in the shooting of a Metro officer admits there was some sort of breakdown that allowed Joseph Jackson to escape custody.
Related: Watch This Story
Police and prison officials are trying to determine how Jackson, and his suspected accomplice, Courtney Logan hatched a daring plan that led to Jackson's escape from custody and ultimately the shooting of Metro officer Sgt. Mark Chestnut on Thursday.
"Without a doubt, there is a breakdown somewhere. We definitely want to determine where that is," said Steven Owen of Corrections Corporation of America, the company that operates the Mississippi prison that housed Jackson…
LINK - WSMV.com
June 26, 2009
CCA private prison escapee shoots police officer
A Nashville police officer was shot multiple times Thursday afternoon by a motorist he stopped along Interstate 40.
Two suspects were taken in custody shortly after the shooting. One of them is a Mississippi prison inmate who escaped from custody Thursday morning.
Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron identified the wounded officer as Sgt. Mark Chesnut, who was reported alert and talking to doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shortly after the 1:20 p.m. shooting…
LINK - CommercialAppeal.com
June 8, 2009
Ala. to remove inmates from private prison
Alabama's prison commissioner says the state will remove about 250 inmates from the private prison where two men recently escaped amid a string of security failures.
But Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen said Monday that money — not the threat of additional escapes — was behind the decision.
In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Allen said his agency can't afford to continue housing 250 inmates at the Perry County Detention Center…
LINK - WZTV.com
May 26, 2009
Murderer, attempted murderer escape from private prison
Authorities are searching for two state prisoners who escaped from a private prison in Perry County Monday.
Joshua Southwick, 26, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to a 2003 murder-for-hire case in Limestone County.
Ashton Mink, 22, was serving time for an attempted murder conviction in Madison County in 2005. He is not scheduled for release until 2028…
LINK - TuscaloosaNews.com
March 4, 2009
OC fugitive arrested after 20-year search
A Riverside County man who escaped from a juvenile hall nearly 20 years ago while awaiting sentencing in six attempted murders was arrested today, ending a search that he dodged by allegedly using fake identities and attempting to mutilate his fingerprints.
Baldomero Johnny Diaz, 36, was taken into custody at his Menifee home and is scheduled to be turned over to the California Department of Corrections to begin serving a prison term.
Diaz's case dates back to an October 1989 night, when he was 17 and a member of a street gang, according to prosecutors…
LINK - LATimes.com
January 30, 2009
Prison worker charged in inmate escape
A prison worker is charged with helping an inmate escape.
Marvin Melton used to work at the prison in New Castle. The prison is owned by the state of Indiana by operated by The GEO group. Melton was assigned to guard a minimum security dorm that is away from the main prison but still inside the fence. The dorm is home to what the prison system calls the most trusted inmates.
Friday morning, Melton was arrested and charged with helping one of the inmates walk away from prison. The Department of Corrections says their guard silenced an alarm on a door that Jeffery Kinartail walked out of. Just after midnight, an emergency head count was conducted and it came up one short…
LINK - WTHR.com Indianapolis
December 2, 2008
Inmate caught in Bakersfield hours after escape from CCI
The California Correctional Institution notified area law enforcement agencies Monday, Dec. 1 that a minimum security inmate had stolen a state truck and escaped –- but he was well on his way to Bakersfield before the roads could be blocked.
Inmate Jack Gayne, 40, of Torrance, helped himself to a white Chevy Silverado pickup he was working on at the prison motor pool and drove through a ranch-type fence outside the secure perimeter at approximately 10:45 a.m. Officers from four agencies apprehended him at 3:45 p.m. the same day in Bakersfield as he was making a phone call in a booth near a Texaco station on Weedpatch Highway.
CCI Acting Public Information Manager and Community Partnership Manager Brian Parriott said he notified area law enforcement agencies appropriately and according to procedure following the confirmation by prison authorities that a prisoner had escaped…
LINK - TehachapiNews.com
November 14, 2008
Two inmates escape Chuckawalla Valley State Prison near Blythe
Two inmates escaped Thursday from Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in the desert near Blythe, a bulletin from state prison guards said.
Authorities are searching for inmates convicted of burglary in Fontana and auto theft. Both are from San Bernardino County and walked away from the minimum security prison after morning roll call, Chuckawalla prison Lt. Debbie Asuncion said.
John Nolan, 29, and Stephen Lloyd Gumpert, 36, did not report to their work assignments after a 5 a.m. inmate count, Asuncion said…
LINK - PE.com (Press-Enterprise)
October 27, 2008
Inmate escapes from prison
An inmate walked away Saturday from a minimum-security facility outside the walls of Folsom's California State Prison-Sacramento.
At approximately 9 p.m. inmate Robert Ivan Micheletti was found missing from his bunk in a dormitory setting. Micheletti, 42, was admitted June 3 on a drug-possession conviction…
LINK - FolsomTelegraph.com
August 26, 2008
Escaped inmate from San Diego back in custody
A minimum security inmate who escaped from a state prison in San Diego has surrendered to authorities.
Prison spokesman Lt. Michael Stout says 24-year-old Manuel Casillas turned himself in Tuesday to state correctional officers at his sister's home.
Casillas escaped from prison on Sunday. Casillas was serving time for second degree burglary. He had been in the prison for about two years and is scheduled to be paroled in two months…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
August 25, 2008
Inmate escapes South Bay prison
Authorities are still searching today for a minimum-security inmate who escaped the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa on Sunday.
Manuel Casillas, a 24-year-old inmate serving time for a second-degree burglary conviction, was last seen at Sunday's 6 p.m. inmate count, according to prison officials. Corrections officers discovered him missing at 9:30 p.m. during another inmate count, according to officials.
Casillas was sentenced to the male prison on June 20, 2006 and scheduled to be paroled Oct. 25, according to officials. The prison houses about 4,700 minimum, medium and maximum security inmates…
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
August 21, 2008
Ohio: Escaped Inmates Caught
Officers have found four inmates who escaped from the Columbiana County Jail sometime Sunday night. Mark Foden and William Merritt of East Liverpool, Jason Heffner of Salineville, and John Hamilton of Salem were reported missing from their cells just before six o'clock Monday morning.
But Investigators say the convicts were spotted even earlier about ten miles away from the jail, possibly driving a dark green '95 Buick that was reported stolen from a nearby driveway. "We know where they were at 1:30 in the morning, in a vehicle which we suspect is this Buick", says Columbiana County Sheriff Dave Smith.
Like something straight out of a movie, the inmates apparently tunneled through the electrical and plumbing duct work in the jail, before popping a hatch on the roof…
LINK - WYTV.com Youngstown, Ohio
August 19, 2008
4 back in jail after escape
Peter Argeropulos, chief operating officer for CiviGenics Inc. of Milford, Mass., flew in Monday after four men escaped from the Columbiana County jail that the company runs.
Argeropulos said he received the call about the escape early in the day, and arrived about 5 p.m. "We take this very seriously," he said. Two company investigators have also arrived.
The escape will be investigated and reports will be sent to the sheriff and county commissioners, he said. Columbiana County commissioners own the jail but lease it to the company…
LINK - Vindy.com
July 25, 2008
Escaped inmate captured after stealing guns, a law enforcement uniform and a vehicle
One of two state inmates who escaped from a minimum-security fire camp near Yucaipa broke into the home of two law enforcement officers and stole a rifle, handgun and uniform before fleeing in a Jeep on Thursday, authorities said.
Authorities said 28-year-old Oscar Delcid Jr., who was serving time for auto theft, was on the lam about eight hours before he was found at a residence in Rancho Cucamonga and arrested at about 1 a.m. today.
The home he is believed to have robbed belongs to a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who is on the department's bomb-arson squad and his wife is a San Bernardino police officer. It was her uniform that was stolen, law enforcement sources said…
LINK - PE.com (The Press Enterprise)
June 19, 2008
Man returned to prison after tip leads to arrest
An inmate who escaped from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility over the weekend was picked up by San Diego police on Monday and returned to prison, authorities said.
Ryan McKnight, 32, walked away from the prison's Minimum Support Facility on Friday night. Prisoners who are housed there are considered low-risk and often participate in work furlough programs, said Kim Siebel, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman…
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
May 30, 2008
Officers nab escaped inmates in Stockton, Richmond
Correctional officers say they've captured two inmates who made a coordinated escape from the county courthouse in downtown Stockton.
Officials with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation say the pair escaped as officers were taking them from the San Joaquin County Superior Courthouse to Deuel Vocational Institution, a state prison near Tracy…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
May 29, 2008
Deuel Escapee Caught
On Tuesday, about 8:30 p.m., Tony Jones, an escaped state prison inmate from Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, was captured. Jones, 21, who escaped from custody Tuesday afternoon from the San Joaquin County Courthouse in Stockton, was apprehended by special agents from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Office of Correctional Safety at a residence in Richmond. Jones was serving a three-year term for assault with a deadly weapon.
LINK - ModBee.com | Law & Order Section
May 10, 2008
Prisons, police join forces
When two minimum-security inmates escaped from the California Medical Facility in March, Vacaville residents sounded off about what they called inadequate notification efforts.
Since then, officials at CMF, California State Prison, Solano and the Vacaville Police Department have joined forces to improve public safety efforts in the event of future escapes. And in the past week, prison officials have distributed fliers throughout the community explaining new joint escape protocols.
"We took this issue seriously," emphasized CMF Warden Mike Knowles, at a meeting Wednesday of the Citizen's Advisory Committee, a panel of community leaders that meets six times a year to discuss prison matters.
CSP, Solano Warden D.K. Sisto added that the writing of the new protocols has been beneficial for all…
LINK - TheReporter.com (The Vacaville Reporter)
May 8, 2008
Man escapes from re-entry center
An inmate escaped Wednesday morning from a secured section of the Casper Re-entry Center, the Natrona County Sheriff's Office said today.
Security tapes showed Michael Issac Green, 28, going over a wall at the facility and running out the front gate at about 6:30 a.m., said Sgt. Mark Sellers.
The escape was reported to the sheriff's office at 7:40 a.m., about the time the re-entry center determined he was missing while performing a head count…
LINK - JacksonHoleStarTrib.com (Jackson Hole Star Tribune)
April 1, 2008
Another man escapes from GEO prison; nobody notices for nearly a day
Law enforcement officials are trying to understand how a convicted felon managed to escape from a privately owned jail across the street from the police headquarters without anyone noticing his absence for a full day.
[…]
The facility, which has nearly 700 inmates, is operated by The GEO Group. Spokesman Pablo Paez said Tuesday the company is assisting the U.S. marshals' investigation, but he would not say why it took so long to discover Pena was gone…
LINK - Chron.com (The Houston Chronicle)
March 26, 2008
Two inmates escape from North Kern State Prison in Central Valley
Two inmates, one of them convicted of manslaughter while driving under the influence, have escaped from North Kern State Prison, authorities said.
Guards at the Central Valley facility noticed the two men missing during the prisoner count at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Lt. Barry Bolton of the California Department of Corrections.
Both men were in minimum security and the escape was being considered a walk-away, he said…
LINK - SFGate.com (The San Francisco Chronicle)
March 24, 2008
Escape from CMF spurs hunt: 2 minimum security inmates discovered missing during bed check
Two inmates from the California Medical Facility, Vacaville, escaped Saturday night and are currently still at large.
Juan F. Lopez, 28, and Gonzalo Ortega, 33, were discovered missing from CMF's Minimum Support Facility at 9:25 p.m., said Sgt. Dionne Hudnall, CMF public information officer.Lopez and Ortega were both accounted for at 8 p.m. when correctional officers conducted a head count in the minimum security area near the back of the facility known as "The Ranch." Hudnall said inmates in that location were allowed to be in a common area at that time, using telephones or in their bed areas. The two men were discovered missing a short time later when a bed check was conducted, Hudnall said.
Upon finding the inmates missing, CMF officials activated the escape-pursuit plan, which includes sounding the escape horn and contacting local law enforcement agencies. The Vacaville Police Department then activated an automated phone service that contacts residents in nearby areas and alerts them of the incident…
LINK - TheReporter.com (The Vacaville Reporter)
February 21, 2008
CCA once again fails to properly notify authorities of escape
Sheriff: Jailers Waited Too Long With Inmate
A Tennessee sheriff says jailers in Nashville may have waited too long to take out a warrant for an escaped inmate who was initially believed to be hiding somewhere in the facility. Habitual escape artist Terrell Watson was being held on auto theft and probation violation charges when he disappeared from his cell Sunday. Officials initially believed he was hiding in the jail, but by Tuesday they said the he escaped through a ventilation system.Sheriff Daron Hall tells WSMV-TV the contractor that runs the jail, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), didn't take a warrant until 48 hours after Watson vanished. Without a warrant, authorities didn't know to be looking for him…
LINK - WJZ.com
February 21, 2008
Parolee breaks legs trying to escape
A wanted parolee broke his legs when he jumped from a second-story window Tuesday while trying to get away from Merced police and state parole agents, Merced police reported.
The suspect, Steve Moua, 25, of Merced, was treated at a Merced hospital before being transported to the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, Lt. Matt Williams said…
LINK - FresnoBee.com
October 9, 2007
Prison Warned of Security Problems Before Escape
Just days before two inmates escaped from a private prison and went on a cross-state crime spree, state officials warned the private facility that its perimeter security was inadequate, records show. One of the escaped convicts, convicted murderer Charles McDaniels, told investigators the guard tower at the facility was usually unmanned and that the razor wire surrounding the perimeter fence was insufficient, according to a report by the state Department of Corrections' Office of Internal Affairs, The Oklahoman reported Tuesday…
LINK - KOTV.com
