Dogs Aid Deputies in Search for 3 Escapees From Musick Jail

Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials launched a manhunt with bloodhounds Saturday night for three inmates who escaped from the low-security James A. Musick Branch Jail, marking the fourth escape from the honor farm this year.

One of the men, Daniel Rodriguez Velasquez, 18, of Anaheim, was due to be released July 10 after serving a sentence for burglary, said Sheriff’s Lt. William Francis.

The other missing inmates were identified as Juan Santomayor, 19, of Costa Mesa, who was serving a sentence for corporal injury to a spouse and was due to be released in October, and Raul Robles, 24, of Costa Mesa, who was due to be released in August for a DUI conviction.

Sheriff’s officials notified Costa Mesa police of Santomayor’s escape and they in turn notified Santomayor’s spouse, Francis said.

“They are low-security,” Francis said. “These people do not present a real threat to the public at large. The one threat we were concerned with, Costa Mesa police did go to that person’s home.”

A sheriff’s helicopter also searched the area, Francis said.

The inmates crawled underneath one fence and over another that is edged with razor wire, he said.

Authorities discovered the escape while on a perimeter check of the facility about 8:50 p.m., Francis said, and immediately did an inmate count. Francis said officials believe the escape occurred about 8:35 p.m. The search began shortly after 9 p.m.