Inmate Is Found at Jail After Hours of Searching

A convicted rapist and burglar awaiting sentencing this week was caught Sunday evening, about 14 hours after he disappeared from a bed check at the maximum security facility at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic.

Pedro Carvajal was found on the grounds of the sprawling jail about 6 p.m., nearly 12 hours after deputies launched a massive air and ground manhunt. The search for the 40-year-old Los Angeles man, who had been at Pitchess for two years, included 150 deputies, a helicopter, canine units and patrols from local towns, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokeswoman Deputy Carrie Stuart.

Los Angeles County district attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said Carvajal had been convicted on three counts of rape involving three victims, and a related first-degree burglary charge. She said he was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.

A sheriff’s spokesman, Sgt. David Halm, said he had no information on where Carvajal was found or why he was not located when the jail grounds were searched early Sunday.

As the search for Carvajal spread, deputies also activated recently installed warning sirens about 7 a.m., and drove through neighborhoods warning residents over loudspeakers mounted on patrol cars.

Residents near Pitchess were warned to keep their windows and doors locked, their children inside, and to avoid hitchhikers.

“I was concerned when I first heard the siren and the deputies on the loudspeakers,” said Debbie Walker, a mother of two, who was awakened by the siren. The family lives about 350 yards from the jail. “But I also had a sense of security because I know that the Sheriff’s Department is going to take care of us.”

Carvajal was reported missing from his bunk during a routine inmate count between 4 and 5 a.m., Stuart said. His absence was then confirmed by a facility-wide wristband check, Stuart said.

The escape came as the Sheriff’s Department has been hounded by criticism of its management of the huge jail system, with sheriff’s officials countering that they are plagued with antiquated facilities and inadequate manpower.

The Pitchess center, in particular, has had a spate of well-publicized jailbreaks recently. In April 1995, in the largest jailbreak in county history, 14 inmates escaped from a maximum security unit designed to house serious felons at the sprawling Pitchess complex.

Five months later, three inmates escaped from the same maximum security unit, using, among other items, a can opener for cutting and bedsheets as a makeshift rope. The trio reportedly punched a hole in the roof of the jail bakery, climbed out and then scurried through a hole in the perimeter fence.

Sheriff’s officials told the county Board of Supervisors that the escape was the result of human error, budget cuts and too many dangerous criminals flooding the jail system.

Residents complained that they had no prompt notification of jailbreaks, and authorities promised more security measures, including 10 warning sirens.

Last year, sheriff’s officials made the embarrassing admission that five homicide suspects had been mistakenly released from the downtown Los Angeles County Jail Inmate Reception Center since 1995 for reasons ranging from miscommunication among law enforcement agencies to paperwork errors at the jail.

In all, 35 inmates have been mistakenly freed since the beginning of 1995, mostly because of clerical problems.

On Sunday, deputies began their search in the maximum security facility, which is used to house violent criminals, then searched the 2,800-acre site and moved into surrounding areas.

As of Sunday night, Pitchess authorities had not determined Carvajal’s whereabouts while he was missing, Stuart said. Carvajal was a jail trustee who worked in the Pitchess kitchen and on janitorial crews.

Visitors were not allowed into the jail Sunday because of the incident.

Times staff writer Carla Rivera contributed to this story.