Santee

A prisoner with the numbers 666 tattooed on his forehead remained at large Wednesday after escaping from Las Colinas men’s jail in Santee by climbing a 16-foot fence and eluding alarm sensors that had been recently repaired, sheriff’s officials said.

Martin Martinez Martinez, 25, described by authorities as a transient from Los Angeles, was reported missing from the jail about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sheriff’s Lt. Gary Alschbach said.

Martinez’s escape was discovered after a Santee deputy on patrol spotted a man in blue jail clothing walking near the intersection of Mission Gorge Road and Cuyamaca Street about a quarter mile from the jail, Alschbach said.

The deputy did not detain the man, but notified jail officials. The jailers took a head count and came up one prisoner short, the lieutenant said.

Martinez, who was awaiting trial on charges of burglary and resisting arrest when he escaped, has the numbers 666 displayed on his forehead. Despite the tattoo--referred to in the Bible as a mark of Satanism--Martinez has no known history of violence, Sheriff’s Department authorities said.

Martinez was described as Latino, 5-foot-1, 130 pounds, with brown eyes, brown hair and a mustache. His jailhouse blue shirt and pants have “SD JAIL” stamped in white across the back, Alschbach said.

The fence alarm at Las Colinas became a source of controversy after the media reported that it had been inoperative for several months after being damaged by lightning. But the alarm was functioning at the time Martinez escaped, Alschbach said.

The 3-year-old jail is a medium-security facility with a capacity of 610. At the time of the escape, 538 prisoners were housed there.