2 Colorado Jail Escapees Held

Two men who allegedly escaped from a Colorado jail last month were arrested here after a routine traffic stop, police said Saturday.

The men--identified as James Dennis Kyler, 35, and Daniel Francis Murphy Jr., 27--were named in warrants issued after they escaped from Montezuma County Jail in southwestern Colorado about three weeks ago, police said.

Arrested Friday night, Kyler and Murphy were taken to County Jail in Santa Ana, where they are awaiting an extradition hearing, said Sgt. Dick Faust.

Santa Ana police did not know why the pair from Cortez, Colo., were in the city or how long they had been here.

Kyler was being held in Colorado for alleged sex crimes, while Murphy was in custody for alleged assault with a deadly weapon. The men were driving on the 2200 block of East 17th Street when Santa Ana police officers pulled them over for an unspecified Vehicle Code violation, Faust said.

Neither man was carrying identification. Officers brought them into the police station to be fingerprinted and identified. Police identified the men from their prints and learned they were both wanted in Colorado, Faust said.

Details of the jail escape were not available.