Inmate Caught 11 Hours After Picking Chains, Fleeing in Car

A San Diego County Jail inmate who had slipped his chains in a morning escape and later eluded police in a high-speed chase in North County was caught by sheriff’s deputies at a house in Rainbow near the Riverside County line Tuesday night.

Scott Robert Fuhrman, 25, was arrested on suspicion of escaping from jail and auto theft about 6 p.m. and held at the County Jail downtown, said Sgt. Kim Carson.

Also taken into custody at the house, on Rainbow Valley Road, was Lisa Rogers, 24, of Temecula. She was held in Las Colinas women’s jail on suspicion of assisting an escape and suspicion of auto theft.

Fuhrman was about to board a Sheriff’s Department bus about 6:45 a.m. when he picked the lock of his waist chain handcuffs with a piece of metal, Detective Ed Augustine said.

Bound for Vista Court

The bus, parked at the B Street parking lot next to the jail, was bound for Vista Superior Court. Two sheriff’s deputies had loaded 30 prisoners when Fuhrman freed a hand, yelled, “Let’s go!” and fled on foot, Augustine said.

One deputy stayed behind to watch the remaining prisoners while the other chased Fuhrman north up B Street. Fuhrman did not have leg chains.

“The (deputy) tried to catch him, but he took off in a waiting car,” Augustine said.

A woman in a car parked near the intersection of State and B streets was apparently waiting for him. Fuhrman got in the car, and the woman drove off, Augustine said.

The car, reported stolen from La Mesa, headed toward northbound Interstate 5.

“It seems to have been well-planned,” said Sgt. Jim Cooke.

Fallbrook Deputies Gave Chase

Sheriff’s deputies from the Fallbrook substation spotted the car on Rainbow Valley Boulevard about 8:45 a.m. heading toward Old Highway 395, and gave chase, according to Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Canchole.

The chase, with sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers in pursuit, led through residential streets and the highway for about 15 minutes. Officers lost sight of the car near the Riverside County line.

The Mazda was found near an abandoned house in Rainbow about 10:45 a.m. A sheriff’s helicopter, CHP officers and sheriff’s deputies surrounded the house but found no one, Cooke said.

The search continued, and Fuhrman was later arrested without incident at a nearby house, officials said.