Rapist Who Tried to Escape Was Jail Trusty

A convicted serial rapist--who sheriff’s officials had thought escaped from the Pitchess Detention Center on Sunday--had been given special privileges at the Castaic jail facility, apparently leading to his botched breakout attempt.

Pedro Carvajal, who faces life in prison at his sentencing this week for three rapes, had been granted “trusty” status by Sheriff’s Department officials and assigned to work in the kitchen area at the Pitchess east jail.

Early Sunday, Carvajal slipped into a service elevator off the kitchen and went down to the basement, where he tried to pry open a small vent, according to sources in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

After a 14-hour manhunt, Carvajal, a Cuban national who came to the United States in the 1980 Mariel boat lift, was discovered hiding amid boxes in the jail basement.

The prosecutor in the rape case, who has been preparing to ask that Carvajal be sentenced to 94 years in prison at a court hearing Thursday, expressed surprise that he had been given special freedoms at the jail.

“I question it,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Carter. “I don’t know what the system is. I don’t know how we end up putting people as trusties.”

Of about 20,000 County Jail inmates, about 300 are trusties. They are allowed out of their cells to perform such functions as mopping floors and serving food.

While jail officials said they agreed that some procedural steps could have been done differently, the charges against inmates have little to do with whether they become trusties.

“We have had murderers who have made excellent workers,” said Sheriff’s custody chief Barry King. “One’s crime does not mean you do or don’t get to be a trusty. . . . The main thing we evaluate is the risk factor.”

Although guards checked the basement for Carvajal when he was first reported missing shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday, it wasn’t until they took a second walk through at 6 p.m. that he was found.

“I think it’s like any operation,” King said. “There are always things we can improve upon.”

Carvajal recently was convicted of raping three women between September 1994 and April 1995. He allegedly broke into the women’s homes in the middle of the night, Carter said. He was convicted of raping one woman in front of her young daughter, according to the prosecutor. And he told another that he had been watching her and would kill her if she went to authorities, Carter added.

After sheriff’s officials realized that Carvajal was missing, they started a search that involved 150 deputies, a helicopter and patrols from towns near the Castaic facility.

Shortly before 7 a.m., deputies activated warning sirens in nearby neighborhoods. Deputies also drove through neighborhoods informing residents over loudspeakers that there had been a jailbreak.

Sheriff’s information officers, however, did not publicly disclose the nature of Carvajal’s crimes until late Sunday.

On Monday, officials said they attempted to contact his victims with the assistance of police Sunday morning. When that failed, they said, they called Carter in midafternoon. Carter then successfully made the contacts.

“One of the victims was extremely shaken up,” he said.

In a small Castaic housing development nestled in hills just west of the detention facility, several people said that they were concerned when they heard the warning siren, but that they have grown accustomed to periodic escapes.

“This is like the third time it’s gone off. When I hear it, I know someone has escaped,” said Sean Lampton, 11. “But I don’t get scared because it’s gone off before and nothing bad has really happened.”

Over the years, Pitchess has been the site of a number of high-profile escapes. In April 1995, 14 inmates broke out from a maximum-security unit, marking the largest jailbreak in county history. Five months later, three inmates escaped from the same unit.

Neighbors said they believe that authorities are doing a better job now of informing residents about escapes than they did in the past.

“I’m glad to hear the siren,” said Mary Bullough, who has lived in the area for 11 years. “It’s better than if they didn’t let us know what was going on.”