Teen-Age Escapee Caught in Anaheim

A teen-age murder suspect who had been sought by authorities for three days after he escaped from the Orange County Juvenile Hall’s maximum security section was arrested Monday night without incident in Anaheim, sheriff’s officials said.

Two Anaheim police officers on routine patrol about 8 p.m. spotted John M. Richardson, 17, and an adult male near a dimly lit carport at an apartment complex in the 3300 block of North Del Monte Drive, Sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Paddock said.

The officers recognized the suspect from pictures distributed by the Sheriff’s Department and took him into custody, Paddock said. The youth was not armed, and he did not try to resist, Paddock said.

“Through the contacts we had on the street, we determined that this particular apartment complex may have been the location where (Richardson) had gone after he escaped,” Paddock said. “Therefore, the patrolmen were on routine patrol and they saw the minor. They approached . . . thinking (the pair) may be involved in some kind of narcotic activity.”

Law enforcement officials obtained permission from Juvenile Court on Monday night to place Richardson in County Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of escape from custody and was being held without bond. The suspect, however, was jailed in an area separate from adult inmates, Paddock said, adding that the court must decide today whether he will remain in County Jail or be returned to Juvenile Hall.

Richardson is charged in the May 20 robbery at a Santa Ana check-cashing store, which led to the fatal shooting of the owner and one of Richardson’s two alleged accomplices. Harley C. Curtis III, 20, of Irvine also faces charges in that case.

Richardson and another teen-ager escaped from Juvenile Hall Friday night by breaking a safety window with a 25-pound weight from a weight-lifting set as a shocked staff member watched.

The other escapee, a 16-year-old boy awaiting charges of probation violation, surrendered about six hours later.