Police: California Jail Inmate Who Escaped May Be Hiding Out in County

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Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office/Twitter(SAN JOSE, Calif.) — As a manhunt intensifies in northern California for two inmates who escaped from a Santa Clara County jail, authorities say new tips place one of the men within Santa Clara County on Sunday night.

Laron Campbell and Rogelio Chavez escaped from the Santa Clara County Main Jail Complex on the night before Thanksgiving.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said Monday morning that new tips put Chavez in Gilroy, California, on Sunday night. The city of Gilroy is within Santa Clara County and is located about 33 miles south of downtown San Jose, where the the Santa Clara County Jail is located. Gilory has a population of about 53,000.

Chavez and Campbell had escaped with two other inmates Thanksgiving eve by cutting through window bars and escaping through a second floor window, authorities said. The two other inmates were immediately apprehended outside the jail, authorities said.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that officials believed the inmates were local and may have family members in the area.

Chavez and Campbell are considered to be dangerous, authorities added.

Chavez was booked at the Santa Clara County Jail in August 2016 and was held on charges including burglary, extortion, false imprisonment, resisting arrest and firearms violations, authorities said. Chavez, who is Hispanic, is 6’1. He weighs 190 pounds and has a distinctive facial tattoo above and below his left eye, according to authorities.

Campbell was booked at the Santa Clara County Jail in February 2015 and was held on charges including robbery, false imprisonment, criminal threats and firearms violations. He is a 6’4 African-American man who weighs 220 pounds.

Anyone who sees Chavez or Campbell is asked to call 911. A $20,000 reward has been offered.

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