Juvenile Inmate Escapes From Moving Transport Van On I-10
A juvenile inmate tried to escape by jumping out of a moving van on Interstate 10 near Palm Springs today but was quickly taken back into custody, authorities said.
The 17-year-old boy picked a door lock around 1 p.m. as the van was westbound on I-10 at Indian Canyon Drive, said Alan Crogan, chief probation officer for Riverside County.
“He stood up in the doorway and said, `Stop or I’m going to jump,”‘ Crogan told City News Service. “Staff pulled over as quickly as they could. As soon as it was going slow enough, he jumped.”
The teen was quickly recaptured by a juvenile corrections officer who had been riding in the van, Crogan said.
The boy, who was shackled at the wrist and ankles, was taken to a hospital for treatment of cuts and a possible shoulder injury.
The van, which was caged and contained two corrections staffers, was taking the boy and three other wards from Indio Juvenile Hall to the Riverside Juvenile Hall, Crogan said.
“It was not like he was going to some real restrictive environment,” he said. “It’s difficult to understand why he would do what he did.”
The teen has been on probation for burglary and theft since April 2007 and has no history of violence, according to Crogan.
“He has no incidents of mental health that we are aware of,” Crogan said. “If there is any type of acting out violent, self-injury type of behavior, we would have it well documented.”
The youth will be taken to Juvenile Hall once he is released from the hospital, according to Crogan.
The case has been assigned to internal affairs personnel, he said.
Friday’s escape comes after two other high-profile escapes involving the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
The most severe came last October when four inmates escaped from a transport van after an accident. All of them were apprehended after a day-long search.
Another came in April when a deputy was going to transport a suspect who was being treated at JFK Hospital in Indio, and the person tried to run off.
