Two Sought After Separate Jail Escapes

Two fugitives were being sought by authorities Thursday after their unrelated escapes from jails in downtown San Diego and Descanso, Sheriff’s Department officials said.

Francisco J. Mendoza, 30, a landscaper from San Ysidro, slipped from his handcuffs and waist chains and hid in a department bus as fellow inmates filed out onto a loading dock at the downtown County Jail, Sheriff’s Sgt. Kate Nolan said.

Mendoza fled the scene on foot immediately after deputies cleared inmates off the dock at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

About five minutes later, an inmate told deputies that Mendoza had freed himself, Nolan said. Deputies went back to the bus and searched the area near the loading dock, which faces B Street near Front Street.

Mendoza was described as 5-foot-11, 160 pounds, with collar-length brown hair and a wide mustache. He was dressed in street clothes.

He had been in custody for two days after being arrested on suspicion of burglary and violating parole, Sheriff’s Deputy Pearl Janulewicz said.

The bus was returning from the Municipal Court in Chula Vista, where the inmates attended hearings, Janulewicz said.

Hesitation to “snitch” on a fellow inmate may have aided Mendoza’s escape, Janulewicz said.

“Inmates are very concerned about being labeled a ‘squealer,’ so whoever called attention to the escape had to wait a few minutes before he could discreetly tell the deputies,” Janulewicz said. “To get labeled a ‘snitch’ in prison, is not a pleasant experience.”

In the second escape, which took place about 6:30 p.m., Manuel Lopez, 20, a transient from Mexico, scaled a fence at the East County jail near Descanso.

A sheriff’s deputy witnessed the 5-foot-5, 130 pound Lopez climb the chain link fence and sprint for the brushy cover in the rural hills and valleys south of Descanso. Fog, drizzle and darkness hampered the search of the immediate area, Janulewicz said.

Lopez, who sometimes goes by the nickname Yochpilio, was dressed in jailhouse blue clothing. He was awaiting trial on burglary and battery charges, and was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail. Fugitive investigators said Lopez may be headed to Mexico, about 20 miles south of the jail.

Janulewicz said the Descanso lockup is a minimum-security jail, and inmates are given freedom to roam the grounds.

“The housing is not locked,” she said. “The fences are not very high.”