Back in Jail, Pullum Is Described as Proud of His Escape, Escapades

Kevin Jerome Pullum pleaded not guilty to a felony escape charge in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, hours after he described his life on the lam to detectives in rich detail, officials say.

The man convicted of attempted murder said he spent most of his 16 days on the streets, panhandling for hamburgers, drinking alcohol and constantly trying to stay a step ahead of the law, Dets. Robert Barrios and Susan Higgins said Tuesday.

Pullum, who escaped from the downtown Twin Towers jail July 6 and was finally captured Sunday afternoon, also denied calling a local television station and offering to surrender last week, telling the detectives that incident spooked him. Pullum said he thought the Sheriff’s Department was attempting to set him up, the detectives said. Some sheriff’s officials also expressed their doubts shortly after the episode occurred about whether Pullum had been making the calls.

Pullum was mostly relaxed during the jailhouse interview, smiling broadly at times and appearing proud of his escapade, the detectives said, even suggesting that they should get a book deal out of it.

“The impression I had during the interview was that he could be somewhat charismatic, somewhat articulate. . . . He was a character at times,” Barrios said. “By watching his facial expressions, you could tell when he was telling the truth. . . . He’d smile this big old grin.”

In court Tuesday, Pullum smiled and waved when he saw his sister, Jerryle Bradley, who was seated in the front row. The inmate was wearing a jail-issue orange shirt and blue pants. He was chained and handcuffed. The Sheriff’s Department transported him the short distance to the downtown Criminal Courts Building alone in a van, accompanied by two deputies. Three deputies followed in a separate vehicle.

Pullum walked out of Twin Towers hours after he was convicted in Van Nuys Superior Court of attempted murder. He apparently wore his street clothes under his jail uniform--dumping the uniform in an unguarded tunnel between the Inmate Reception Center and Twin Towers--and wearing a fake employee badge with a picture of Eddie Murphy from “Dr. Dolittle 2” on it, walked out the door.

He is due back in a Van Nuys courtroom today for sentencing in the attempted murder case. As a third-striker, he faces up to life in prison. He was convicted of attempting to kill a man in a shooting over a drug deal, and he is representing himself in that case.

In a downtown courtroom on the escape charge Tuesday, Judge Lance Ito set an Aug. 3 preliminary hearing date. Ito also agreed to allow cameras in his courtroom.

Dermot Givens, a Los Angeles lawyer hired by Pullum’s sister to represent him, hinted that he might consider a defense based on the possibility that Pullum left the jail with the Sheriff’s Department’s knowledge. He referred to the escape as Pullum’s “release.”

Barrios said that when Pullum was asked in the interview Monday afternoon whether anyone inside the jail helped him, the burly convict replied: “I’m not going to rat out anyone. I have to live in here.”

The detectives said they doubt that anyone inside the department aided Pullum. When they suggested they had information that he had planned his escape for a while, he smiled.

Pullum also finally acknowledged his identity to the detectives. When he was arrested Sunday, he said his name was Henry Crocker. Even after two fingerprint scans showed he was Pullum, he continued to insist that authorities had arrested the wrong man.

Pullum still refused Monday to discuss certain details of his escape--including how he disposed of the fake employee badge. Detectives said he told them he was reticent to speak on those issues to avoid incriminating himself.

He said, however, he spent time in Palmdale, Hawthorne, Gardena, San Pedro, Santa Monica, Venice and downtown’s skid row, where he was finally arrested Sunday afternoon, the detectives said.

Pullum said he slept outdoors several nights, staying in alcoves and basements. He sometimes stayed in cheap motels. He said he ate free food from homeless shelters but didn’t remain overnight in one, the detectives said.

And, he said he found it easy to live on the streets, that he “knows all the crevices and basements in downtown L.A.,” Barrios said.

“He insinuated that if he really wanted to stay out, we never would have caught him,” Barrios said.

He said that he kept up with the investigation by reading newspapers and that he even saw detectives searching for him several times in Hawthorne and Palmdale but managed to elude them. He said he believed the FBI was involved in the manhunt.

Detectives said that when they told him that he pulled off one of the most ingenious escapes from County Jail, he responded: “What do you mean one of them? Which one was better?”

The detectives said Pullum indicated that life on the run wasn’t glamorous by any stretch and that he believed he had to keep moving.

He took public transportation and sometimes had the use of a car. Detectives said they will attempt to find out whether any of his associates loaned him the vehicle.

Detectives also said they kidded Pullum about his first weekend of freedom with his girlfriend, who provided details to The Times. The girlfriend, Carmen Ford, said that, among other things, Pullum painted her toenails. When asked about the toenails, Pullum, the detectives said, looked away and appeared embarrassed.

The detectives said Pullum complimented them on his capture, telling them: “You guys really did your homework,” Barrios said.

The detectives said they believe that the pressure the department put on Pullum’s friends, relatives and other associates forced him onto the streets.

Bradley, Pullum’s sister, said before Tuesday’s court appearance that she remains unhappy with the way she was treated by the Sheriff’s Department. She said she felt like a suspect.

“They’ve been harassing me,” she said. “I couldn’t go to the movies, I couldn’t get my nails done. . . . They followed me everywhere. . . . It’s been one nightmare after another.”

Bradley said that although she is glad her brother is in custody, she remains worried about his safety. “I don’t trust the Sheriff’s Department,” Bradley told reporters after the brief court hearing. “As long as he is behind bars, I don’t feel he’s safe. . . . I believe that they’re upset that he escaped.”

Sheriff’s officials said Pullum will not be harmed by deputies.