14 Prisoners Escape, But 10 Are Recaptured

Ten of 14 prisoners were captured Sunday after they had escaped through the roof of a maximumsecurity jail and over a 20-foot razor-wire fence.

Four of the fugitives were caught almost immediately after the predawn jailbreak, the biggest escape from the Los Angeles County jail system.

The other 10, wearing orange jail jumpsuits, vanished into the dark.

Six of them were captured later in the day within five miles of the jail after more than 100 sheriff’s deputies and three aircraft had mounted a manhunt, sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Jeff Springs said.

Two of the four fugitives who remain at large are murder suspects.

Housing developments near the 2,800-acre Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho jail were placed under guard as teams of deputies searched for the fugitives.

More than 100,000 people live just south of the jail in Santa Clarita. Small highway and farm communities dot the region.

The inmates escaped their jail module through a hole in the ceiling that had been repaired temporarily with a metal plate, Springs said.