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| Inmate at youth camp hits officer, flees with 2 in van |
| By San Deigo Union Tribune |
| Published: 04/23/2004 |
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An inmate at the Camp Barrett Youth Correctional Center smashed an officer on the head with a steel garden tool yesterday before escaping with two other inmates in a county-owned van, the Sheriff's Department said. The officer, identified as a 51-year-old Spring Valley resident, was flown to a San Diego hospital, where he was treated for a nearly severed ear and multiple cuts and bruises. The officer also may have suffered a broken wrist and hand, an official said. The officer was listed in stable condition, said county Probation Department spokesman Derryl Acosta. The man was not identified, but Acosta said he has been with the department for six years, the past two at Camp Barrett. The victim was guarding seven teens assigned to a work crew when the attack occurred about noon, authorities said. The crew was clearing debris along a small access road to Camp Barrett, which houses up to 125 juvenile offenders ages 16 to 18. One of the boys hit the officer at least once with a McCloud, a rakelike tool with a long handle and a steel head. Two boys stayed with the injured officer while two others ran to the camp for help, Acosta said. Three boys jumped in a van parked nearby and sped away, a portable toilet in tow. The youths ditched the portable toilet a short time later and continued driving toward Alpine. The van was later abandoned on Dehesa Road, south of Alpine. One of the boys couldn't open the van's rear door, so he kicked open a window to escape, sheriff's spokesman Chris Saunders said. He flagged down a passing vehicle and apparently asked the driver to call authorities. Deputies arrived moments later and took the 18-year-old burglar to Juvenile Hall, authorities said. Deputies continued searching the mountainous terrain near Alpine from the air and on the ground, but were still looking for the two 17-year-old wards last night. One of the boys was serving time for burglary, the other for resisting arrest, Acosta said. "We're not sure whether it was a planned escape or if there was animosity" between the inmates and the guard, Saunders said. Camp Barrett is a minimum-security facility for boys that is a last stop before the California Youth Authority, the juvenile equivalent of prison. |
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