Only 1 Guard Was on Roof as Inmates Fled, Officials Say

On the night that five inmates broke out of the Orange County jail’s rooftop recreation area, one of the two deputies guarding a group of 68 prisoners had been called away from his post, county officials disclosed Tuesday.

County officials, who insisted on anonymity, have blamed the two deputies for the Sunday night incident when the inmates cut through a chain-link fence on the roof and dropped off the side of the building with a braided rope made of bed sheets. One of the prisoners was recaptured outside the jail after he suffered a broken leg during the escape, but the other four remain at large.

It was the third time in 5 years that prisoners had escaped from the fourth-floor rooftop security area by cutting their way through the fence and rappelling down the side to freedom.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Richard J. Olson said the two deputies assigned to the roof on Sunday were temporarily relieved of their duties with pay on Tuesday, pending the outcome of an investigation. He would not identify the deputies.

Union Complaints’

On Tuesday, union officials complained that deputies’ ability to guard the inmates had been hampered lately by court mandates and staffing shortages.

“The information we have now is that while there are two deputies assigned to the roof area, there was one properly attending to other duties most of the time and one was there” in the guard station, said Robert MacLeod, general manager of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs.

With two deputies on the roof, one is stationed in a guardhouse while the other patrols the area. But when there is only one deputy, he is confined to the guardhouse, allowing the inmates to take advantage of the guard’s limited visibility, sources said.

These sources also said the escape hole cut in the fence was actually about 8 feet off the floor, just above a portion of the fence that was reinforced after another successful jailbreak used the same escape route. Apparently, officials said, the inmates were boosted up to the hole on the shoulders of other prisoners, unseen by the lone guard on duty.

Inmate Search Limited

Also, since there was only one deputy on the roof, the normal search of the inmates before the 1-hour recreation period was limited to a visual check of the prisoners by the deputy inside the guardhouse. In a visual search, the inmates are told to unzip and partially remove their jumpsuits and lift any undershirts.

“Deputies working in an environment of (the) Stewart vs. Gates (court case) are continually in a situation where they have to make a decision to violate department policy or violate Stewart vs. Gates” because there is not enough manpower to do all of the added work, MacLeod said.

“Anyone who would claim this escape is solely the result of the actions or inaction of our deputies is misrepresenting the facts,” he said.

In the Stewart vs. Gates lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, a federal judge ordered minimum standards for treatment of the inmates, including requirements for recreation time, properly scheduled meals and adequate bedding.

Officials also revealed Tuesday that shortly after the jailbreak, three of the four escapees apparently coaxed a nearby resident into his car with them, then drove to Garden Grove, where they forced the vehicle’s owner out of the car and took off.

Olson said that about 8:15 p.m. Sunday, three shirtless men approached another man working on his vehicle in the carport of an apartment complex at 2949 N. Bristol St. in Santa Ana, not far from the main downtown jail.

Two of the men, who had apparently shed their orange jail jumpsuits and were wearing only shorts, claimed that their colleague had suffered a heart attack and needed to be rushed to the hospital.

Once inside the car, one prisoner allegedly threatened the driver with a letter opener and told him where to go, eventually leaving him on a curb in Garden Grove, Olson said. The victim later identified three of the escapees from photos.

Olson said they were Richard Lawrence Fluharty, 26, charged with burglary; Anthony Michael Gianetti, 35, charged with robbery, and Steven Wilson, 26, charged with robbery, kidnaping, assault with a deadly weapon and burglary.

A fourth escapee--Eleazar Gonzales, 20, wanted for a gang-related murder--apparently fled separately, Olson said.

Police say that Gianetti, also known as Michael Lee Taylor, may have masterminded the escape.

“Taylor is an extremely bright guy,” said Sgt. William Van Cleve of Huntington Beach, where Gianetti has been charged with a jewelry store robbery.

‘He Is Very Dangerous’

“His occupation is committing armed robberies and probably any other crime that he sets out to accomplish,” Van Cleve said. “I wouldn’t put anything past him. He is very dangerous.”

Olson described the car that the trio commandeered as a reddish-orange 1986 Ford Escort with some damage to the passenger door. The license plate is from South Dakota, number 49R298.

“We want to get that information out on that vehicle,” Olson said. “It is still outstanding and has not been recovered.”

Olson also said authorities are continuing an extensive search throughout Southern California, although he declined to describe the entire scope of the investigation.

The inmate who apparently split from the other three, Gonzales, was charged with murder in the July 25 shooting death of Juan Cedilla Picon, 20, also of Santa Ana. Police said that the shooting was gang-related and that Gonzales had been an active drug user for years.

At the small, yellow home Gonzales shared with his parents and three sisters in Santa Ana, family members spoke of their fear for his safety and of the events that led to his arrest for murder.

“We don’t know what happened, and we don’t know where he is,” said his father, Sabino Gonzales. “He hasn’t contacted us. He has a lot of friends--in San Francisco, in Colorado, around here--and I am sure they are helping him.”

Gonzales described his son as a troubled young man who began running with the wrong crowd shortly after graduating from Mountain View High School in 1985. He began using drugs, mainly PCP, and 3 years ago fathered a daughter out of wedlock, his father said. About 2 years ago he was charged with shooting a brother-in-law in the foot during a domestic argument.

‘Did Not Kill Anyone’

“He has been using drugs for maybe 4 years,” his father said. “He just stopped wanting to work. He was hanging around the wrong people, the drug users. But I can tell you this, he did not kill anyone.”

Gonzales and his wife, Alicia, said their son began acting erratically after he was hit in the head last summer by Cedilla, the man he is accused of killing.

“It was a bad injury,” his mother said. “There was a lot of blood from his eye and his ear. He used to wake up screaming, and sometimes he would get mad for no reason.”

After Cedilla’s death and her son’s arrest in Imperial County and transfer back to Orange County Jail on Oct. 4, she said she had advised county officials that he was in need of medical attention.

“Between the (head) injury and the drugs, he is sick,” she said. “As far as I know they didn’t send a doctor to see him. Yes, he has used drugs and, yes, he has bad friends, but he told me he did not kill that boy, and I believe him.”

Since their son’s escape, the family said police investigators had been stopping by the house four, five times a night looking for their son.

“They come by at 10 p.m. and then midnight and then 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.,” his father said. “We can get no sleep. They don’t believe us when we say we haven’t heard from him.

“He is not dangerous and I’ve never seen him with a gun. He needs medical help.”