LOCAL : Inmate of El Toro Jail Escapes

An inmate awaiting charges of drug possession escaped from a minimum-security jail in El Toro this morning but is “not considered a danger to the public,” an Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

Michael Eugene Lawson, a 34-year-old transient, was discovered missing from the James A. Musick Branch Jail when deputies took a head count at 3 a.m.

Lt. Richard Olson said it is not known how Lawson escaped the facility.

Lawson, who is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 140 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes, was arrested June 14 on a charge of possession of narcotics. Olson said bail had been set at $10,000.