13 Escape Jail; 11, Including 2 Alleged Killers, Still at Large

Thirteen inmates, two of whom are facing murder charges, escaped from a San Diego County jail Wednesday night by sawing through steel bars with hacksaws smuggled in through an open window, authorities said. Eleven of the men remained at large late Thursday.

The jailbreak was the largest in county history. Jail officials Thursday blamed overcrowded conditions and the failure of the county government to fund requests for improvements in the security system.

The men escaped from the South Bay Detention Facility at about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday by sawing through two bars and then using the bars to smash through a plate-glass window. Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Wood said a motion sensor system on the windows, installed in 1982, no longer works.

Jail officials said they did not know an escape had occurred until a passer-by called 911 after spotting inmates getting into a car outside the jail. Two of the inmates involved in the breakout were quickly recaptured after the passer-by notified the Chula Vista Police Department.

Wood said the escape was successful despite perimeter guards and remote security cameras. He said the jail’s overall security system is ineffective.

After breaking out, the men lowered themselves 40 feet to the ground by using bed sheets, Wood said. He said an investigation has determined that somebody lowered the hacksaws by rope to the inmates from a public walkway 15 feet above one of the jail’s unattended windows. Wood said the exchange of hacksaws took place without being detected by the guard on duty when the breakout occurred.

The South Bay Detention Facility is seven miles from the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing and houses, in the words of Wood, “some of the toughest inmates in the county. On Jan. 3, we had 105 (suspected) murderers in here.”

Wood said the inmates who remain at large are considered “very dangerous.” He identified them as follows:

Audias Gomez, 36, and Sergio Martinez, 22, who face murder charges; Christopher Bell, 21, facing robbery and assault charges; Charles Neuman, 28, an alleged thief; Jesus Lopez, 21, accused of assault; Lance Williams, 25, who faces assault charges; Benjamin Tapia, 21, an accused burglar; Michael Walker, 29, accused of possessing stolen property; Carlos Renteria, 27, jailed for investigation of burglary; Larry Dominguez, 18, who faces an attempted murder charge; and Francisco Yacumba, 19, who faces a drug allegation.

Wood said the breakout was the second since he came to Chula Vista a year ago. The first occurred in December, when seven escapees smashed through a window and lowered themselves to the ground on sheets. Two of those prisoners are still at large, Wood said. He noted that only one other escape occurred between the opening of the jail in 1982 and last year.

Wood said the Chula Vista jail was built to house 192 inmates but currently contains more than 750. Inmates sleep three to a bunk. Wood said he has a staff of 53 deputies, but no more than a dozen on duty at night.

Wood said he blamed the escape on overcrowding and a lack of county funding that has prevented officials from making the jail more secure.

“There is no one individual to blame for this,” he said. “The building’s construction was aesthetically pleasing, when, in fact, it should have been utilitarian. There are some holes that need to be filled. . . . .We have an obvious problem when somebody can drop two hacksaws over a public walkway and into an open window and coordinate a fairly well-planned escape.”