Sheriff’s Dept. Failed to Act on Jailbreak Tip

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department did not act on a tip that escaped robbery suspect Michael Taylor might try to break out of jail, according to an internal department memo made available Friday.

The memo was revealed by the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, the deputies’ union, as evidence that department administrators--not deputies--were to blame for the escape.

Taylor and four other inmates escaped on the night of Nov. 20 by rappelling from the roof of the four-story men’s jail in Santa Ana on bed sheets. Taylor is the only remaining fugitive from the escape. Law enforcement officials say he was responsible for a $450,000 armed jewelry heist near Chicago two weeks ago.

A Sept. 29 memo from a sheriff’s lieutenant to Sheriff’s Capt. Albert R. Massucci, who is in charge of the men’s jail, said Taylor asked an outside contact to hide some clothing near the jail that he could use in the escape. The contact, however, was an informant for Huntington Beach police, who alerted the sheriff’s lieutenant of the possible escape plan.

In a second Sheriff’s Department memo written Nov. 27, after the escape, the ranking jail officer on duty the night of the breakout--Lt. Jerry Kreitz--said he learned of the warning of a possible escape only after the breakout. The Nov. 27 memo was from Kreitz to Massucci.

Massucci was not available Friday for comment. Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson declined to respond to the memos but insisted that five deputies on duty were responsible and have been disciplined.

In a prepared statement, Olson said, “The bottom line to this whole thing is that the escapes never would have occurred if the deputies had been doing their jobs.”

Deputy Michael Elliott, 30, was fired because he allegedly failed to count the inmates as they left the rooftop recreation area, did not search them before they were allowed onto the roof and did not properly patrol the area during the one-hour recreation period.

Deputy Daniel Walsh, 24, who also was assigned to the rooftop on the night of the escape, was given a 30-day unpaid suspension by the department on Friday, said Robert MacLeod, general manager of the deputies’ union.

Neither Elliott nor Walsh could be reached for comment late Friday.