Bailiff Takes Blame for Felon’s Escape : Manhunt: Deputy who forgot to lock the door in the courthouse expresses remorse. Rapist was last seen seeking a ride at a nearby nursery.

It is every bailiff’s nightmare.

A rapist who is accused of attempted murder escapes from his holding cell, initiating a massive manhunt stretching all the way to Mexico--all because the bailiff forgot to lock a door.

But that is exactly what happened when convicted felon Ricardo S. Meza, 26, sauntered past his own jury and fled the Ventura County Courthouse on Tuesday.

“It’s my fault,” said a remorseful Sheriff’s Deputy John Wilson. “I should have checked the door.

“I embarrassed the department and the sheriff. I let a man facing at least 25 years in prison walk out of the courthouse.”

Wilson and another deputy had left Meza alone only about three minutes while they readied a courtroom for his trial.

“When I returned to the holding cell and he wasn’t there, I got the sickest feeling you can imagine,” Wilson said. “My jaw tingled and my ears burned.”

The last confirmed sighting of Meza was at the Green Thumb nursery on Victoria Boulevard at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, just blocks from the courthouse, Detective Larry Robertson said.

When seen, Meza was wearing a T-shirt that read, in large letters, “Gotcha.”

The fugitive told Green Thumb employees that he was hiding from someone who had attacked him, Robertson said, then asked to use the washroom, where he cleaned up and disappeared again.

Meza--a 5-foot, 2-inch Latino, 125 pounds with black hair and brown eyes--was last seen wearing dark pants, black loafers and the white T-shirt. Police urge anyone with information on Meza’s whereabouts to call 911. He is considered extremely dangerous, police said. Meza, an illegal immigrant, has been convicted of rape and burglary and faced massive prison time if convicted of a third felony.

“He had a lot to lose and every motivation in the world to escape,” Robertson said.

There were unconfirmed sightings at a trailer park near Green Thumb as well as on Olivas Park Road near Victoria on Tuesday morning, Robertson said.

But after Green Thumb, where Meza approached several people for rides, the trail turns cold on the first successful escapee from the Ventura County Hall of Justice.

The Sheriff’s Department, which has about 100 deputies chasing leads across the county, alerted the FBI, Border Patrol and the INS to be on the lookout for Meza, who lived in Mexico as well as Camarillo. A $500,000 state warrant was issued for his arrest Wednesday, and the department is pursuing a federal warrant as well.

Although Meza is on the lam, his jury on Wednesday continued deliberating whether Meza stabbed a co-worker 25 times in October.

Meanwhile, Deputies Wilson, 33, and Chris Loes, 30, have some explaining to do.

Sheriff’s Cmdr. Merwyn Dowd said both Wilson and Loes were responsible for keeping an eye on Meza. Although most trials are presided over by just one bailiff, Loes was called in to provide additional security because of the serious nature of Meza’s crimes, Dowd said.

Wilson said it was human error--his--that led to Meza’s escape from the 8-by-12-foot holding cell sandwiched between Courtrooms 33 and 34.

It was Wilson and Loes who unshackled Meza’s ankles and left him alone in the holding cell without checking the doors while they set up evidence displays for the jury in Courtroom 33.

It is believed Meza did not plan the escape and used the two or three minutes alone to jimmy the door to an empty Courtroom 34, perhaps with a butterfly paper clip he may have found or smuggled in, Dowd said.

Wilson’s fateful error was not checking to make sure the door to Courtroom 34 was double-locked. The doors lock automatically but are easily picked open unless they are twice-locked.

“Both doors are supposed to be double-locked,” Dowd said, adding that Wilson and Loes should have waited longer to unshackle Meza.

There are no specific guidelines, however, for handling prisoners in the courthouse holding cells, and Dowd said deputies should continue to use their own discretion.

“Our policies are fine,” he said. “But they’re only as good as the people employed to use them.

“You can build the best security facility in the world, but unless deputies pay attention to their jobs, what value is it?”

A popular, self-effacing bailiff known for his friendly manner and most recently for wrestling a distraught stepfather to the courtroom floor, Wilson has worked for the sheriff about seven years.

“He’s one of our finest deputies who has always done an above-average job,” Dowd said.

But Wilson and Loes are certain to face some consequences, Dowd said.

“They will probably be subject to retraining,” Dowd said, adding that they could also face other disciplinary actions ranging from a written reprimand to suspension or termination.

“It’s a very embarrassing incident,” Dowd said. “We feel we, as a department, that we lose credibility with the courts and the taxpayers when this sort of thing happens.”