San Diego

Two high-security inmates escaped from County Jail downtown early Sunday by clambering down an improvised rope from the roof of the jail to the roof of the courthouse below, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

Leon Morse, 35, and John Pugh, 36, were locked in the exercise yard atop the jail roof with nine other inmates from 8:30 a.m. until their escape sometime before 10 a.m., sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Ramirez said.

The two escapees cut through the wire-mesh net surrounding the yard and lowered a homemade rope of braided cloth onto the courthouse roof below. They then entered the building, Morse riding the elevator to the Union Street entrance and Pugh taking the stairs and exiting through the B Street door, Ramirez said.

Morse, of the 8400 block of Innsdale Drive in Spring Valley, had been sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in prison on murder and child molestation charges, according to Ramirez, who described him as violent and dangerous.

Pugh, of the 3600 block of Oceanview Drive in San Diego, was sentenced Aug. 18 to eight years in prison on burglary and escape charges, Ramirez said.

The two inmates had been awaiting transfer to a state prison. Both were seen shedding their jail clothing as they departed the courthouse, Ramirez said.