IRVINE : Man Captured After Escaping Musick Jail

A man mistakenly assigned to a low-security jail in Irvine despite a record of felony convictions escaped early Tuesday but was caught after leading police on a freeway chase in a stolen truck, authorities said.

Michael S. Davis, a 34-year-old transient held on suspicion of grand theft and other charges, escaped from the James A. Musick Branch Jail about 12:30 a.m. Authorities did not provide details on the escape, saying it is under investigation.

Davis fled in his jail-issued orange jumpsuit and awakened a man sleeping in a pickup truck nearby at Alton Parkway and Fairbanks Road, Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Martini said. Davis ordered the man out and stole the truck by pretending to have a handgun, Martini said.

Davis drove the truck north on the Santa Ana Freeway and was spotted by an Irvine officer near Tustin Ranch Road, Irvine Police Lt. Sam Allevato said. Davis got off the freeway and then back on, heading south until he abruptly pulled over near Jeffrey Road, authorities said.

The escapee then jumped out of the truck, darted across the freeway and leaped a fence into an orange grove, where he was caught hiding in a bush about six miles from the jail, Allevato said.

Davis was arrested Jan. 19 in Costa Mesa on suspicion of grand theft, resisting arrest, receiving stolen property and carrying a concealed weapon and false identification, Martini said. He was booked into Orange County Jail and assigned to the Musick facility, which holds slightly more than 1,000 male and female inmates.

But Davis was ineligible for the minimum-security jail, because he has numerous felony convictions outside California, Martini said. Jail officials looked up his state record, which showed no criminal past but apparently did not check his out-of-state record, Martini said. Martini called the oversight an “unusual occurrence.”

It is the first escape from the jail this year. Last year, 11 inmates escaped, including those who fled from crews working off the jail premises, Martini said.

Davis now faces charges stemming from the escape and theft of the truck. He has been moved to Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana, Martini said.