Inmate Escapes in Tennies, Undies

An Orange County Jail inmate escaped Friday from a Sheriff’s Department van, shed his bright-orange jail jumpsuit and was last seen fleeing from a shopping center wearing only underwear and tennis shoes, authorities said.

James Caylor, 33, pried loose a panel in the van and triggered the locking mechanism to open the door, Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Olson said. Caylor escaped when the vehicle was stopped in heavy traffic at 17th and Bristol streets about 4:15 p.m.

“We would definitely feel he has to be considered dangerous if he is confronted,” Olson said.

Other inmates in the van did not attempt to flee, Olson said.

Caylor, a parolee whose last known address was a Buena Park motel, was awaiting court appearances on charges of possession of marijuana and drugs for sale, Olson said. He was arrested June 2 on a narcotics warrant and was being held without bail because of a parole violation.

Deputies were returning Caylor to the county’s main jail in Santa Ana after taking him to the Theo Lacy branch jail in Orange for dental work, Olson said.

Caylor’s jail-issue jumpsuit was found in front of a store in the Honer Plaza shopping center at the corner of Bristol and 17th.

“He was last seen running down an alley behind the shopping center in jail underwear,” Olson said.

Caylor was described as 5 feet 6, 120 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes and a mustache.

Olson said Caylor was sentenced to prison in 1985 for assault with a deadly weapon but was paroled March 24.

Caylor has prior convictions for robbery, burglary and car theft, Olson said.