CAMARILLO : 1 of 2 Escapees From Prison Recaptured

Two inmates working in the kitchen of the Ventura School prison in Camarillo--one serving time for murder, the other for attempted murder--escaped early Thursday morning, authorities said.

One of the escapees, 18-year-old Francisco Gonzalez, was apprehended at 6:30 a.m. by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies. He had been imprisoned at the Ventura School since 1993, when he was convicted of murder in Ventura County Superior Court.

But the other escapee, 21-year-old Hector Contreras, was still at large late Thursday. He had been imprisoned at the Ventura School since 1992 after he was convicted of attempted murder with a shotgun in Los Angeles County Juvenile Court.

“We’re not actively searching for him right now,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Lt. Leslie Warren said. “It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. We have no leads. We have no idea where he could be. He is not from this area.”

Two inmates were reported missing from the prison about 5:40 a.m., and after a roll call it was determined that the missing men were Contreras and Gonzalez, said Lt. Tommi Tavernelli of the California Youth Authority, which operates the jail. Prison officials immediately contacted local authorities, and Gonzalez was caught shortly afterward near the Oxnard Auto Center.

Both inmates escaped from the central kitchen, where they had been assigned to work, Tavernelli said.

The Ventura School was the site of numerous escapes in 1991 and 1992, including a nine-month stretch when 10 inmates--some of whom were imprisoned for murder--escaped the facility. The California Youth Authority responded by beefing up the prison’s security system, adding video cameras and sound sensors.