Dana Point Arrest : Oregon License Tags Foil a Jet-Set Escapee

An escapee from a federal correctional center was arrested on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point this week after a routine computer check on his out-of-state license turned up dozens of aliases and a $1-million warrant, the California Highway Patrol said Friday.

James R. Read, 40, escaped from the Federal Correctional Institution in Pleasanton on July 16, 1984, by hiding in a garbage truck. He was arrested Tuesday night in a 1986 silver Corvette with Oregon tags.

CHP Officer Bruce Lian had jotted down Read’s license number Monday night near the spot where he eventually was arrested so he could run a routine check to see whether the driver was really an Oregon resident or a Californian attempting to avoid paying state registration fees.

“We have a program,” Officer James Rasmussen explained, “where out-of-state licenses are checked to see if the person is indeed a resident.”

Officer Mort Opittek said that when he ran the computer check, a long list of aliases appeared.

“Probably 35 or 40 names came up,” Opittek said. “His time had run out. The computer came back with all kinds of things wrong.”

$1-Million Bail

There were several warrants, he said, including one issued after Read’s escape on which bail had been set at $1 million. He had been serving a five-year sentence for wire fraud.

There also were federal warrants charging that, after his escape, Read had set up bank accounts for phony companies, bilking banks in Washington, Nebraska, Colorado, Michigan and Utah of thousands of dollars. The U.S. marshal’s office, the FBI and the San Francisco Police Department all wanted Read.

U.S. Marshal Dennis Berry of San Francisco said in a phone interview that he had been looking for Read since his escape. He added that Read had a reputation for living the good life in San Francisco before he was sent to federal prison.

“He was a jet-setter who hung around with some of the most influential people in San Francisco,” Berry said.

At the time of his escape, Read was awaiting trial on charges of bilking a man out of thousands of dollars by selling him shares in Lear jets that didn’t exist.

The night after CHP Officer Lian took down Read’s license plate number, Rasmussen was filling out reports in his patrol car in a convenience store parking lot on Pacific Coast Highway near Amber Lantern Street when he noticed Read drive up.

“We had a description of the vehicle, and I knew there couldn’t have been too many silver Corvettes with out-of-state plates in the same area, “ Rasmussen said.

Read pulled into the parking lot and slowed down as if to stop, Rasmussen said, but then kept right on driving.

The officer said he was on the lookout for the silver Corvette because of an alert that had been issued after the computer check.

Rasmussen followed Read for a while and then pulled him over. He surrendered without incident.

Read, who was born in Iowa, served time for fraud in Redwood City during the late 1970s, officials said. He has been married twice and has a son living in the Midwest.

He apparently continued to live a life of luxury through the bank accounts he set up for the phony companies, authorities alleged.

Read was taken from the Orange County jail Friday afternoon and was being transported to San Francisco.