An attempted murder suspect who escaped from a California jail on Sunday was collared just one day after his daring getaway after he fled to Hollywood, reports said.
Deshaun Stamps, 29, had been locked up at the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino County since a January arrest for attempted murder and assaulting a police officer, according to CBS News.
But he was apparently dissatisfied with his incarceration — so he gave himself an unsanctioned early release.
Shortly after noon on Sunday, deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department discovered that the bald, tatted-up suspect had ditched his digs and fled during an “outside recreation period,” the department said.
Authorities have not said exactly how the felon managed to escape.
But once he did, the news spread through the cell blocks like wildfire, according to Roger Montesinos, an detainee who was released Monday from the same facility.
“I was in, two bunks down, when they put us in a code red,” Montesinos told CBS. “They told us we had to bunk up for our safety. … They were looking for somebody who escaped, so we just bunked up for the rest of the night.
“I heard when they went out to yard, he was able to hop the fence and go out the back way,” he added.
“You’re out in the open, you’re out in the yard, cement walls. But, the top is a fence, just a regular fence. So if you’re able to push it up enough, I can see that happening — there’s no barbed wire on the other side.”
Frantic law enforcement agencies scrambled to recapture the fleeing man — but made sure to tell the public that no one should approach the menacing outlaw.
“Do not attempt to make contact with Stamps,” a statement from the department said.
But his burst of freedom was short-lived — the LAPD arrested him in Hollywood at about noon on Monday, CBS said.
He has since been handed back over to sheriff’s deputies in San Bernardino County.
Stamps, of Riverside, had previously been ordered by the court to submit to a mental evaluation to determine if he was competent to stand trial, the outlet added.
