LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Inmate Hiding Under Moving Bus Is Killed

A Los Angeles County Jail inmate died Tuesday after apparently trying to escape by hiding in the undercarriage of a moving sheriff’s bus, authorities said.

The man, whose body could not be immediately identified, was described as a 20- to 30-year-old Latino. Sheriff’s Deputy Diane Hecht said he was pronounced dead in Bellflower after the bus was flagged down by a motorist who had seen clothing hanging from its underside.

Hecht said the bus had left the Men’s Central Jail downtown with 20 inmates aboard, bound for the Los Cerritos courthouse. It had been on the road about 45 minutes and was southbound on the San Gabriel River Freeway at Imperial Highway when it was flagged down. Deputies found the inmate’s body wedged underneath, Hecht said.

Investigation of the incident prompted closure of the Santa Ana Freeway for 40 minutes and tied up downtown-area traffic for much of the late afternoon after detectives found bloodstains on the freeway near 4th Street.