A search continues for the suspects who tried and failed to break into the facility located at Lucas Valley Road and Mount Lassen Drive in San Rafael. It was around 4:30 in the morning when employees at the juvenile hall reported hearing banging on an outside wall. They immediately moved the young inmates to safety and called the sheriff's department.
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Officers searched the area for more than two hours. They did not find whoever tried to break in, but the evidence of the attempted breakout was clear. "We found an area where the fence had been breached using bolt-cutters then we found a sledgehammer that was apparently used to try to force entry into the wall," said Lt. Barry Heying with the Marin County Sheriff's Department.
On the other side of that wall was a cell holding high-profile inmate Max Wade, awaiting trial on multiple charges. Authorities say whoever tried to spring him didn't stand a chance. "The buildings are all constructed in a code that fits with prisons and jails and juvenile halls. They have reinforced windows, reinforced concrete, so they're not easily accessible," explained probation officer Michael Daly.
Along with the bolt-cutters and sledge hammer, authorities also found a backpack full of clothing. "We believe the suspects left initially on foot. Due to the remote location here in the valley, they probably got into a car at some point," Heying said.
It was Friday or bust for Wade and whoever tried to free him. The sheriff's department says Wade turned 18-years-old today and was scheduled to be transferred to an adult facility. That transfer has since gone through.
Investigators say now that they know the target of the breakout, it significantly narrows down the list of possible jailbreak suspects.
