Morgan Hill
– Two teens were captured Tuesday morning, less than an hour
after their escape from the William F. James Boys Ranch.
Morgan Hill – Two teens were captured Tuesday morning, less than an hour after their escape from the William F. James Boys Ranch.
The boys, 15 and 16, were part of a work crew on the grounds of the former Holden Ranch when they ran for a fence separating the two facilities at 11:25am, according to the Santa Clara County Probation Department.
Counselors who were with the boys notified a deputy sheriff on duty outside the ranch grounds on Malaguerra Avenue in northeast Morgan Hill.
The deputy then contacted the Morgan Hill Police Department. The teens were apprehended by deputies at 12:20pm and taken to Juvenile Hall.
The police department was first notified of the escape by a neighbor who called 911, MHPD Lt. Terrie Booten said.
“We received a call from a resident reporting the boys running through his orchard,” Booten said. “He gave us a description, and we deployed officers to the area and notified the Sheriff’s Office.”
The call from ranch staff came about eight minutes later, Booten said, after the remaining boys in the work crew had been taken to a secure area.
The call from the resident may have been received first, Booten said, because it came in on the 911 emergency line. Booten said the ranch staff followed the procedure set up for notification of police.
Since January, a total of 10 teens in four separate incidents have run away from the county probation department facility. All have been caught.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage said the county is working with law enforcement agencies and neighbors of the ranch to curtail runaway attempts. County officials have said that estimates for constructing a fence around the property have come in between $3 million and $5 million, but have not documented those bids.
The Board of Supervisors is considering a GPS monitoring system for ranch inmates, bracelets the teens would wear that would alert officials if they attempted to leave the ranch property.
“This will come before the board on the 19th,” Gage said Tuesday. “Once this system is in place, then we look at its effectiveness.”
