News

Actions

Northern California murder suspects who escaped jail captured at San Ysidro Port of Entry

Posted at 11:39 AM, Nov 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-06 22:01:31-05

(KGTV) -- Two murder suspects who escaped from a Northern California jail were captured at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Customs and Border Protection officials said.

Suspects Jonathan Salazar and Santos Fonseca escaped from a Monterey County detention facility on Nov. 3 after authorities said the men exploited a “blind spot” in jail security.

The men cut a hole through a bathroom ceiling, climbed through and then arrived at a back door that they kicked open.

RELATED: Murder suspects sought after jail escape

CBP officials said Salazar, 20, and the 21-year-old Fonseca attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico at the port of entry’s PedWest facility at 11:35 p.m. Tuesday.

Officers learned through database searches that the men were wanted for the jail escape and apprehended them.

The men were transferred to Monterey County Sheriff’s Department custody.

The men will be kept apart and housed in a different facility than the one they escaped, Monterey County Sheriff's Office Capt. John Thornburg told the Associated Press.

Salazar and Fonseca had been in custody since 2018, and both were awaiting trial on murder charges in separate cases.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.