http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/292877061930046

Search continues for Sunnyside jail escapees
By PAT MUIR
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


SUNNYSIDE -- Police expect to spend the weekend untangling leads and aliases as they continue to search for three escaped federal inmates, having already found and arrested a fourth.

Yakima police and U.S. Marshals arrested 34-year-old Rolando Cortez-Orozco without incident at a Yakima house Friday afternoon. It's unclear what his relationship is to those living there, officials said. Nobody else at the scene was arrested.

"He came out and surrendered himself to police pretty easily," said Steve Thompson, supervising deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service in Yakima.

The other fugitives also may have already left Sunnyside, said Sunnyside Police Sgt. Jeff Cunningham. The four escaped early Thursday from the city jail where they were being held on behalf of U.S. Marshals. They carved through a bathroom ceiling using metal from a mop bucket and crawled through air ducts before breaking through the jail's roof.

Still at large are Roberto Ruiz-Ochoa, 48, Ernesto Gallegos, 27, and Aaron Lopez Garcia, 28.

"We're searching houses in our area. � But we're starting to focus on other areas," Cunningham said Friday afternoon.

Police searched about 10 houses, with the residents' consent, in and around Sunnyside on Thursday and early Friday, he said.

Thompson said he isn't sure how many people police and marshals have contacted in the Yakima area, but there have been numerous leads. They also pursued at least one lead in the Tri-Cities, U.S. Marshals Deputy Jeff Marty said.

Two women who police believe are connected to the breakout also were in custody Friday. Misty Ann Simmons, who police suspect may have been driving a Chevrolet Corsica spotted near the jail at the time of the breakout, was picked up for questioning Friday morning and hasn't been released. By late Friday afternoon, she had been booked on suspicion of making false statements to police and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Amanda Louise Clark, who was arrested by Yakima police on suspicion of aiding and abetting the escapees, was involved "up to her neck" in the escape plot, Thompson said.

Police are trying to determine the exact role each of the women played and were not ready Friday even to say who they believed actually drove the getaway car.

"We don't know," Cunningham said. "That's one of the things we're investigating right now."

They also are trying to figure out just what went wrong at the jail to allow the escape. It's unclear whether there was human error involved or simply the discovery of a vulnerability police didn't know existed. Sunnyside Police Chief Ed Radder and Deputy Chief Phil Schenck are gathering information on that subject and have declined to elaborate beyond that.

Already, though, they are taking steps to prevent a similar breakout in the future. They will look into reinforcing the bathroom ceilings with steel, installing alarms in the ceilings and increasing the frequency of inspections, Schenck said.

Though there are several times in a given day when corrections officers walk through the "pods," there has been only a once-daily full physical "white glove" inspection, Radder said. That rate already has been increased, Schenck said.

Even so, "jails have escapes," he said.

This was the first for Sunnyside's jail, which opened in 1997.

"We watched it being built, brick by brick, and we had the impression that this type of event would be impossible," Radder said, adding there would be an emphasis on making the first breakout the last.

That means watching extra carefully inmates with escape attempts in their past, Schenck said.

Gallegos had escaped custody twice in the past, once in 1998 and once in 2001. He was caught and convicted both times. He also tried to escape from the Sunnyside jail about a week ago, Schenck said.

He also has past convictions for eluding police, possessing stolen property and hit and run.

Ruiz-Ochoa, the eldest of the four escapees, was facing immigration charges and federal prison, as was Gallegos. Lopez Garcia was facing firearms and immigration charges.

Thompson declined to release their complete criminal histories Friday, and their numerous aliases made background checks difficult.

But it is clear that Lopez Garcia and Gallegos have extensive criminal pasts. Both have been convicted on drug charges. Lopez Garcia also has past convictions for firearms charges, robbery and burglary, plus convictions as a juvenile for rape and assault.

Cortez-Orozco, the man in custody, had been charged with rape and kidnapping in 1999 in King County and was facing federal prison time for violating immigration laws. He used several names, Thompson said.

The multiple aliases for all four men have been a challenge for police trying to track them down, he said.

"It's going to be a long night and weekend," Thompson said.