Escaped Inmate, 3 Others Taken in Apartment Raid

One of two men who escaped from custody in October was captured Wednesday in a raid of an apartment on 42nd Street, San Diego police said.

Martin Para, 30, and three other people were arrested on suspicion of welfare fraud, felony harboring of a fugitive and armed robbery, said Gordon Redding of the Police Department.

Para was being held on suspicion of auto theft Oct. 2 when he and Chris Brown, 31, escaped from a holding area underneath police headquarters, Redding said. Brown is still at large.

Para is also known as Martin Velasco, and police believe he is the brother of one of the other people arrested Wednesday.

Redding declined to specify how police were led to the apartment in the 4100 block of 42nd Street, saying, “We’ve been receiving tidbits of information and sightings here and sightings there.”

“Late last night, we received what was pretty well the final piece of the puzzle,” Redding said. The raid, which took place at 9:15 a.m., involved a helicopter and 13 officers.

Eddie Velasco, 26; Sinna Essington, 24, and Esther Gutierrez, 24, were also arrested at the apartment, which police believe is rented to Gutierrez. Essington and Velasco had outstanding warrants for parole violations, and Essington is suspected of being involved with welfare fraud, police said.

Gutierrez was arrested on suspicion of felony harboring of a fugitive and misdemeanor possession of narcotics paraphernalia found at the apartment, police said.

Officers said they found a starter’s pistol in a car believed to be Velasco’s and are investigating possible links between the suspects and robberies in the San Diego area since Para’s escape.