Madera County Jail escape raises security concerns
MADERA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Action News is learning more about how five inmates escaped from the Madera County Jail.
The five inmates all broke out on Friday night. Authorities tracked them all down this weekend.
Freedom was fleeting for the five inmates who escaped from the Madera County Department of Corrections, but it has raised concerns about the security of the jail.
Supervisor Tom Wheeler says he's been getting steady updates on the investigation.
"They said they dug out, well what they did is they dug through a wall. I guess it takes a while to get through that wall so they were hiding it some way," said Wheeler.
Wheeler says the hole led to a common room where at least one of the inmates loosened a bar and broke a window to escape. The others apparently followed behind. But Wheeler was relieved to hear it happened in the old part of the jail, not the new expansion area.
"I thought it was the new part and I was thinking oh my gosh we spent 30 million bucks and here we are with prisoners getting out in a year or two, but no it's the old part. I just found that out this morning," said Wheeler.
Madera County Department of Corrections Chief Manuel Perez held a news conference Monday evening. He said he couldn't release details about how the escape happened for the safety of the correctional officers.
Perez confirmed the inmates broke out through an old section of the jail. About 100 inmates are normally housed there, and they've since been moved into other areas. That is causing a space issue at the jail.
The Sheriff's Major Crimes Unit and Madera Special Investigations Unit tracked down four of the inmates with help from the public on Saturday. They are Juan Lopez, 30, Abel Ramos, 25, Ricardo Cendejas, 19, and Jorge Lopez-Diaz, 26.
They caught the fifth man, Roel Soliz, 29, in Fairmead on Sunday. The charges against them include everything from attempted murder to recklessly evading a peace officer. And now they'll face an additional count for the escape.
"It's unbelievable first of all, why they would want to break out because they're not going to get away; it's almost impossible," said Wheeler.
There's no word yet on what kind of tool was used to dig through the wall or what that wall was made of, but Wheeler says making the hole did take some time.
Chief Perez said there's no reason for the public to feel unsafe.
"I live in this community. I don't feel that I'm threatened, more so probably more at work than I am out in the community, so it's safe to say the public is safe," he said said.
Perez also said if anyone does feel uneasy, they're welcome to use their Second Amendment right.
There's no word yet on when that section of the jail will reopen or how significant the damage was.
The Madera County Department of Corrections says the breakout is being investigated both criminally and internally.
