Two inmates who were being held on murder charges in a central California jail escaped the facility over the weekend. One of them may have been spotted at a motel on Monday, reports claimed.
But somehow it appears that he was able to escape custody yet again.
Fox News reported that on Tuesday, deputies responded to a Motel 6 in the town of Marina around 11:30 a.m.
Law enforcement officers were tipped off when “an employee [of the motel] reported that 20-year-old Jonathan Salazar was hiding out in the building.”
At the time of the arrival to the motel, there was no response from the room that Salazar was thought to be in. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office reported in a statement that, “after about eight hours of trying to make contact with the escapee believed inside a Motel 6 in the town of Marina, police SWAT deployed a flash grenade and raided what turned out to be an empty motel room.”
After the raid, Capt. John Thornburg of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said they concluded that while he might’ve been there, he had escaped justice yet again.
Officers “searched the room and he is not here. I’m confident nobody left the motel after we got here, so that time between them calling and us getting here he apparently did leave.”
#NOW: @MCoSheriff SWAT team just arrived at Motel 6 in #Marina after employee tipped off police escaped inmate Jonathan Salazar was at motel. Salazar is currently holed up in room, sheriff’s office says no sign of other escaped inmate Santos Fonseca. #ktvu pic.twitter.com/VQKYB0oINr
— Azenith Smith (@AzenithKTVU) November 6, 2019
“We have a strong belief that he was here, OK, from the witness or the person that called, the interviews we conducted,” he said. “It’s disappointing. I mean, we’ve been out here for hours, and, you know, people are waiting and we’re trying to do everything we can to locate this person along with the other gentleman and take him into custody.”
It is reported that police evacuated both the hotel and a nearby restaurant while securing the area around the motel. Officers called out over a loudspeaker demanding that Salazar exit the room if he was inside, using both English and Spanish in hopes to communicate completely with the suspect.
SWAT arrived on scene at 6 p.m., with the flash bang grenade being deployed around 7 p.m., followed by the raid and search of the room. Police K9s were brought in to search the rest of the motel for Salazar. There is no further information or reported sightings in regards to the two escaped suspects from California.
Earlier this week, we reported on the escape of Salazar and fellow inmate Santos Fonseca, both being held on murder charges, from the California jail.
Police called Salazar and Forenseca “extremely dangerous” murder suspects.
According to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, they escaped from the Adult Detention Facility in the early morning, unannounced.
They are both five-feet-seven-inches tall with black hair and brown eyes. Fonseca weighs 150 pounds and Salazar weighs 170 pounds.
They’ve been in jail since 2018, where they were awaiting trial on unrelated murder counts “along with numerous other felony charges,” a sheriff’s statement said.
Because of California laws, authorities will not say whether or not the suspects are legally in the country.
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office says SWAT entered the room at the Motel 6 and Jonathan Salazar WAS NOT THERE. They believe he was at the motel today but no indication of how he got away. The investigation and search for the two murder suspect who escaped from the jail continues pic.twitter.com/aPUkwKam6M
— Aaron Groff (@AaronGroffTV) November 6, 2019
According to local media outlets, Fonseca was being held on two counts of murder and attempted robbery on a $2.25 million bail after being arrested for a June 2018 shooting, and another deadly shooting three days earlier.
Media outlets are also reporting that Salazar was arrested along with a 15-year-old boy in July 2018 for a deadly October 2017 shooting.
“An investigation is underway to determine their means of escape but, at this time, we can provide no details on that topic,” said the sheriff.
He put out a statement overnight.
“Our focus, and resources, are dedicated to locating and returning Fonseca and Salazar to custody.”
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