Inmate on Work Crew Escapes

Orange County sheriff’s deputies are searching for a 21-year-old jail inmate who commandeered a county truck and drove away from his work crew in Fullerton on Sunday morning.

The James A. Musick Branch Jail inmate, Enrique Chavez Ruvalcaba of Garden Grove, was assigned to a work crew cutting weeds and clearing storm drains near Gilbert Street and Carol Drive, said sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

Ruvalcaba was present for roll call at 9:30 a.m., but 30 minutes later, another inmate noticed that both Ruvalcaba and a truck carrying a portable restroom were missing. Amormino said Ruvalcaba was able to start the truck using keys that one of the work detail’s supervisors apparently left on the floorboard.

The supervisors “will probably be reprimanded,” Amormino said. “I’m sure [leaving the keys in the truck] violates some policy. I wouldn’t say it’s a rule of thumb to leave them in there.”

Authorities later recovered the stolen truck in an alley in Fullerton, Amormino said.

Ruvalcaba had been serving time since Dec. 11, when he was jailed because of a parole violation. His original conviction, Amormino said, was for brandishing a firearm. He was also subsequently charged this month with auto theft.

“He was due for release March 14, and it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever why he would escape,” Amormino said.

Ruvalcaba is now facing felony charges of escape and auto theft.

He is Latino, 5 feet 11, about 160 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a denim shirt and denim pants with “James Musick Jail” stenciled on them.

Anyone with information about him is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at (714) 628-7170.