Prison Escapes Orange County

An inmate escaped from Western Medical Center's custody ward dressed in a nurse's uniform Thursday afternoon but was caught by hospital security guards a block away, authorities said. Pamela Lynn Elliott, 38, who was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of possessing stolen property, walked away from the custody ward in the 1000 block of South Anaheim Boulevard about 4:40 p.m., the Sheriff's Department said.

Two youths at Juvenile Hall who were working on a kitchen detail Sunday escaped from the facility in Orange, sheriff's deputies said. The unidentified males, whose ages were not released, escaped about 6:15 p.m. while returning from the kitchen to their barracks, Sheriff's Sgt. William Hunt said. Sheriff's deputies searched the area with patrol units and a helicopter but the pair had not been found by late Sunday night.

Sixteen hours of investigative work paid off Saturday when sheriff's deputies arrested a suspected killer, the last of three prisoners who had escaped from a jail bus the day before, outside a home deputies had apparently staked out. Son Hong Nguyen, 23, of Santa Ana, who is charged with killing a man and setting his body on fire, was arrested at about 7:45 a.m. as he rode a bicycle in Santa Ana. He was wearing a white T-shirt, jail-issue pants and a red baseball cap, residents said.

A burglary suspect being driven to jail Saturday broke a window in a moving police car, leaped onto the Costa Mesa Freeway, lost his pants and kidnapped three women before being arrested again. No one was injured in the wild escape attempt, and by evening, Abraham Josh Derian, 25, of Montebello, was in the Orange County Jail. "He was desperate," said Newport Beach Police Lt. Mike Jackson. Police initially arrested Derian at 3:30 a.m.

A prison escapee described by authorities as "a major figure in the pornography industry" was arrested Tuesday morning inside an apartment he had been renting since January. Ruben Sturman, 68, was surprised by federal marshals at 7:10 a.m. at the apartment in the 2500 block of West Ball Road. He was arrested without incident, but officers found a loaded .45-caliber pistol in an open briefcase next to his bed, said Jan Axthelm , supervisory deputy U.S. marshal.

A convicted burglar who escaped from Orange County Jail held a special weapons team at bay for nearly five hours before surrendering Thursday. Darryl Mason, 21, of San Clemente was taken into custody without incident about 6:25 p.m., nearly five hours after a sheriff's SWAT team surrounded a house he was suspected of hiding in. Mason was convicted of burglary and sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Increases in juvenile crime and budget problems are forcing Orange County to place teen-agers convicted of felonies--most of whom are gang members--into minimum-security camps from which they are escaping at a pace of about five per week. In the first six months of the year, more than 130 youths have literally walked away from the county's three minimum-security juvenile correctional facilities, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Sixteen hours of investigative work paid off Saturday when Orange County sheriff's deputies arrested the last of three prisoners who had escaped from a jail bus the day before. Son Hong Nguyen, 23, of Santa Ana, who is charged with killing a man and setting his body on fire, was arrested about 7:45 a.m. as he rode a bicycle on a Santa Ana street, wearing a white T-shirt, jail-issue pants and a red baseball cap, residents said.

Just before a Superior Court jury was to begin hearing testimony last year on whether to send him to the gas chamber, murderer Robert (T-Bone) Taylor allegedly hatched a plot to kidnap his two lawyers and shoot his way out of Orange County Jail. Taylor, 39, apparently passed two letters to a fellow inmate, who presumably was to be released. According to the plan outlined in the letters, that friend would kidnap attorneys Edward W. Hall of Santa Ana and Gary M.

An inmate serving a seven-week jail term for burglary and battery walked away from his work crew in Irvine and is being sought by authorities. Armando Serrano Perez, 23, was clearing brush out of a flood-control channel with a work crew at Michelson Drive and Harvard Avenue when he disappeared Tuesday, Orange County sheriff's spokesperson Jim Armomino said. Perez was placed in the James A. Musick Branch Jail a week ago and was due for release Dec. 10.

A man facing a "third strike" prison sentence of 25 years to life for cocaine possession fled Tuesday from a courthouse in a pickup truck, authorities said. Frank Soto, 45, of Mission Viejo was in the South Court Justice Center for arraignment when a judge granted his request to step outside the courtroom to talk with his attorney, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Doan. Once outside, Soto fled to the parking lot and left in his truck, authorities said.

An inmate serving a seven-week jail term for burglary and battery walked away from his work crew in Irvine and is being sought by authorities. Armando Serrano Perez, 23, was clearing brush out of a flood-control channel with a work crew at Michelson Drive and Harvard Avenue when he disappeared Tuesday, Orange County sheriff's spokesperson Jim Armomino said. Perez was placed in the James A. Musick Branch Jail a week ago and was due for release Dec. 10.

A teenage escapee from Juvenile Hall, who was awaiting arraignmentin connection with a gang shooting, is being sought by authorities. Reynaldo Chavez Goicachea, 17, is Latino, 5 feet 8 and 130 pounds. He has short-to medium-length hair and green eyes. Officials said he could be armed and should be considered dangerous. Goicachea escaped from the youth facility Wednesday morning with two accomplices who were later recaptured, authorities said.

Two inmates who escaped from an Orange County Sheriff's Department bus while on the way to court were found hiding in a room over a garage in Anaheim on Saturday evening after a massive one-day manhunt. The two escapees, who were in jail on a number of auto theft and robbery charges, were arrested by members of the Sheriff's Gang Enforcement Team and Orange County Probation Department. Eric Quoc Vu, 19, and Chancole Eddie Rajapasith, 20, were captured without incident about 6 p.m.

The escape of two inmates from an Orange County sheriff's bus on the way to court in Santa Ana triggered a massive manhunt Friday and an internal investigation of how the handcuffed men got away. The two men, who had been in custody on a number of auto theft and robbery charges, had not been recaptured late Friday. Orange County Supervisor Charles V.

The Sheriff's Department found an 18-year-old inmate Friday night who had escaped the minimum-security James A. Musick Branch Jail near Irvine, officials said. The inmate, Christopher M. Gibson, was found in San Diego County and brought back to Santa Ana's Intake Release Center, officials said. He had escaped from Musick on Thursday. Gibson had walked away from an on-site work crew at the facility sometime before 2 p.m. Thursday, Lt. Tom Garner said.

Authorities nabbed an escaped inmate Saturday, less than two days after she had hopped a fence at a minimum-security county jail. Shawna Jane Yancey, 33, was arrested without incident by Orange County sheriff's investigators about 3:40 p.m. on the 1600 block of Superior Avenue, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Yancey, serving a 90-day sentence for drug possession, had escaped from the James A. Musick Branch Jail about 3 a.m.

A man serving a one-year auto theft sentence escaped from a work crew site about noon Friday, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Manuel Hernandez, 19, had been assigned to work at the sheriff's training facility at 1900 W. Katella Ave. He was a minimum-security inmate scheduled for release from the James A. Musick Branch Jail on Oct. 4. The Anaheim man now faces additional charges of escape, Sheriff's Lt. Ron Wilkerson said.

Two inmates used bolt cutters Monday morning to cut through fences at an Orange County Sheriff's detention center and escape in a waiting car, officials said. Sheriff's deputies were searching for Arturo Garcia, 25, of Long Beach and Pedro Jacobo, 33, of Sun Valley, both in custody for a robbery in Santa Ana in December 1996, according to Sheriff's Lt. Ron Wilkerson. The two men cut through two fences at the Theo Lacy Detention Center at 501 City Drive South between 8:15 and 9 a.m.

Authorities nabbed an escaped inmate Saturday, less than two days after she had hopped a fence at a minimum-security county jail. Shawna Jane Yancey, 33, was arrested without incident by Orange County sheriff's investigators about 3:40 p.m. on the 1600 block of Superior Avenue, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Yancey, serving a 90-day sentence for drug possession, had escaped from the James A. Musick Branch Jail about 3 a.m.