Authorities still searching for the latest runaway
Morgan Hill – Once again, Morgan Hill Police officers and Sheriff’s Office deputies are searching for an inmate of the William F. James Boys Ranch after another escape from the county facility.
The inmate was still on the run Tuesday, according to Bill Fu, a public information officer with the Santa Clara County Probation Department.
Fu said authorities are investigating how the inmate escaped, but did not have any information late Tuesday, but said an investigation into the incident continues.
Since January a total of 18 boys have escaped from the ranch in nine separate incidents.
The latest escape occurred about 4pm Thursday, according to Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Joe Sampson.
“We were notified of the escape a little after 5pm,” Sampson said Friday. “We were informed the escape had occurred nearly an hour prior to notification Our dispatchers then sent out a ‘be on the lookout’ request for the three males last seen walking on Highway 101 near Dunne Avenue, still wearing ranch clothing.”
Sampson said officers were unable to make contact with the Sheriff’s Office deputies who also were searching for escaped inmates, but was later informed that deputies had captured the teens in the Target store in Cochrane Plaza shopping center.
It appears as though that information was incorrect, according to Fu. He said only one inmate had escaped the facility Thursday.
The probation department was told that a Sheriff’s Deputy called the ranch about 3:30pm Thursday to ask if an inmate was missing. Shortly after the call, an off-duty ranch employee called the ranch to report seeing a ranch inmate near the Target store.
Ranch staff then determined that the 17-year-old was missing, Fu said, and the Sheriff’s Office and MHPD were notified.
“At this time, we are investigating why we were not aware until the phone calls that the minor was missing,” Fu said. “The final report on this incident is not yet complete.”
Communication between the ranch, the probation department and local authorities also has been a problem in the past. Delays in notifying agencies after the escape occurred prompted Probation Department officials to create new policies for the ranch, one of which requires notification within 20 minutes of an escape.
The spate of escapes in the early months of the year prompted worried residential neighbors of the ranch to request tightened security.
To solve the problem, Santa Clara County Supervisors considered purchasing a GPS bracelet system that would allow inmates to be tracked by satellite, but ditched the idea, which would have cost $400,000, when it was discovered that GPS sensors would not alert guards until more than six minutes after the electronic boundary had been crossed.
In May, supervisors decided to spend $890,000 on a security fence to enclose buildings and a recreation area of the 50-year-old ranch on Malaguerra Avenue.
The 12-foot high, 4,000-foot fence is scheduled to be completed by September.
