Indio Officer Shoots 16-Year-Old Juvenile Hall Escapee In Chase; Probation Officer In The Wrong Place During Escape

An Indio police officer shot a juvenile hall escapee, this morning, after a chase through an Indio neighborhood.

The officer was responding to a call of a vehicle break-in at 7:20am, this morning, along the 83-100 block of Antigua when he coincidentally confronted the suspect. He ran off with the police officer behind him.

The chase led them to Blue Mountain Court where the suspect managed to get on top of a roof. That’s when Indio police say the officer fired his gun at the suspect, hitting him. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

He was later transferred to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where as of 12:30pm, he is now listed in critical condition.

The officers did not know the boy was the escapee until after he was shot, Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron said.

The 16-year-old escaped around 8:10 p.m. Sunday from Indio Juvenile Hall, where he had been taken by van from Southwest Juvenile Hall, said Alan Crogan, chief probation officer for Riverside County.

The boy was exiting the van and going toward the entrance to Indio Juvenile Hall when he claimed he was sick, bent over and clutched his stomach, Crogan said.

The teen was able to get out of his handcuffs, which were on a waist chain, according to Crogan.

“He reached for his lower leg and he was free of one shackle and ran toward fencing that he used as a ladder to get over the top of the building and escape from the facility,” Crogan said.

Crogran admits his officer was standing in the wrong place during the escape. He says the officer was standing behind the teen rather than to the teen’s side.

Internal affairs personnel are looking into how he was able to get free of his shackles, according to Crogan.

The boy had been in custody at Riverside and Southwest Juvenile Halls since being arrested in Desert Hot Springs on Dec. 23, 2008, on attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and robbery charges.

The youth has had several discipline problems while in custody, according to Crogan.

“He’s been verbally aggressive, manipulative, disrespectful,” Crogan said. “He’s been difficult.”

The boy does not appear to have any gang ties, he said.

On Friday, a 17-year-old inmate tried to escape by jumping out of a moving van on Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, but he was quickly taken back into custody.

That boy, whose arms and legs were shackled, opened a door lock and threatened to jump if correctional staff did not stop the vehicle, according to Crogan.

That case has also been assigned to internal affairs for investigation.