Feb 15, 2008 6:36 pm US/Pacific
San Mateo Teen Murder Suspect Escapes Jail
SAN MATEO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
A 17-year-old murder suspect escaped from the San Mateo County juvenile detention center by scaling a wall and wriggling through a hole cut in a chain-link fence, authorities said Friday.
Police issued a statewide alert for Josue Raul Orozco, who was arrested three years ago in connection with the drive-by killing of 21-year-old Francisco Rodriguez in Redwood City on July 12, 2005.
The U.S. Border Patrol was also notified that Orozco might be headed to Mexico where he has family, sheriff's Lt. Marc Alcantara said.
"Hopefully by putting out this information to the public we hope to get some fresh leads and catch him quickly," Alcantara said.
Authorities indicated that Orozco is a Sureno gang member and should be considered dangerous. Orozco, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, is the youngest person to be charged as an adult for murder in San Mateo County.
While he was charged in adult court, Orozco had been held since his arrest on no bail status at Hillcrest Juvenile Hall at 222 Paul Scannell Drive. He was currently scheduled for a jury trial on May 12.
Officials said Orozco was playing basketball with two other inmates when he escaped around 7:15 p.m. Thursday by apparently scaling a 10-foot cement wall around the athletic area.
Once he made it over the wall, authorities said Orozco escaped through a 3-foot-long slit in a chain link fence believed to have been cut by an accomplice.
"It appears that an accomplice cut a hole in the fence and was waiting for him outside the facility in a car," said Loren Buddress, chief probation officer for San Mateo County.
Surveillance cameras showed a suspicious car - a mid-size black sedan, possibly a Chevrolet Impala, with chrome wheels - near the facility around the time of the escape.
A K-9 unit was called to the scene and tracked Orozco's scent from the hole in the fence to the adjacent roadway, where the scent disappeared.
Buddress said the escape initially went unnoticed by the two probation officers who monitor the facility's more than 120 security cameras.
The probation department is now conducting an internal investigation to look at security issues at the facility, he added.
"We want to analyze what happened, what didn't happen, what we can do in the future to maximize chances that this can never happen again," Buddress said. "It will include a discussion with the sheriff's office about any security enhancements we can put in place."
Three other juveniles who were arrested in connection with Rodriguez's killing were previously convicted and sentenced for aiding and abetting a murder, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
Orozco is " a man we wanted to get to trial and convicted," Wagstaffe said. "Hopefully he will be apprehended and we will give him his day in court."
Orozco, and co-defendant, Faustino Ayala, 23, are charged with murder and participating in a criminal street gang. If convicted, they are looking at sentences of life in prison.
At the defendants' 2006 preliminary hearing, a witness testified he saw a man, who prosecutors believe was Orozco, get out of a vehicle the afternoon of the shooting and reach for something in his waistband.
Prosecutors allege that Orozco shot Rodriguez and that Ayala was driving the car.
Lt. Alcantara said he does not believe that Orozco will seek revenge against people who testified that he shot Rodriguez.
"He has been in custody for 3.5 years," Alcantara said. "This was purely about him getting out."
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