Search Pressed for Two Orange County Escapees

Authorities continued an intense search Monday for two Orange County Jail inmates who took advantage of the unexpected absence of a second jailer at a rooftop exercise yard to escape Sunday.

The two prisoners, convicted killer Ivan Staich, 29, and murder suspect Robert J. Clark, 23, reportedly jumped the jail deputy guarding them while they were on the roof for their recreation period, handcuffed him with his own cuffs, then pried open a wire screen along the south wall of the recreation area to make their escape.

They climbed down from the roof with the use of an electrical cord.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Dick Olson said the department has 10 extra units in the field searching for the two escapees, in addition to the 33 cars on regular patrol. A command post set up for the search was still in operation Monday night.

Staich, a former jail escapee in Riverside County, was convicted last month of second-degree murder and attempted murder in a 1983 attack on his former girlfriend and her husband.

Clark was awaiting trial on murder and robbery charges stemming from the January, 1984, slaying of David Martinez, whose body was found dumped in an unincorporated area near Irvine.

Assistant Sheriff Jerry Krans said there are usually two deputies or more on the roof when any inmates are there for recreation periods. But one of the two deputies scheduled to go with Staich and Clark had to change his plans because of an unidentified emergency elsewhere in the jail.

Krans said it may be several weeks before he decides whether to recommend to Sheriff Brad Gates any improvements in jail security.