Murder Suspect Sought After Pitchess Escape

CASTAIC — About 90 Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies searched without success Sunday for a murder suspect who slipped out of a maximum-security dormitory at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center a day earlier.

Deputies searched the brushy area around the jail for eight hours looking for Robert Carrasco, 40, who escaped Saturday evening, department officials said.

Spokeswoman Angie Prewett said searchers received a tip from a local resident who saw “a male Hispanic, wearing only a boxer-type short” jumping over the fence of a nearby recreational vehicle park.

Searchers included deputies from the jail, the Santa Clarita and Malibu sheriff’s detachments and the SWAT team. It also included police dogs and several horse-mounted deputies.

Authorities canceled all family visits to the jail Sunday in the wake of the escape.

Carrasco was arrested Feb. 4 on suspicion of murder. He was being held without bail at the time of his escape and was scheduled to appear in court on June 10.

Mike Zip, a 10-year local resident, said jailbreaks are becoming a regular feature at the facility, located about 35 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

“It’s tense here until they catch him,” Zip said. “They have jailbreaks constantly. It’s a serious problem out here. Here’s someone accused of murder. He is on the loose now. Parents are very scared and concerned.”

But Greg Ferrier, the local town council president, said the occasional jailbreak “is only an annoyance. The notification worked well. Everyone was locked up for the first six or seven hours. Life is moving back to normal.”