Three Curry County jail inmates also charged with assisting in Aug. 24 breakout.

Two of the four Curry County jail inmates recaptured after the Aug. 24 escape were arraigned on escape-related charges Thursday in state District Court, the Clovis News Journal reported.

Javier Zapata, 19, and Raynaldo Jeremy Enriquez, also 19, are charged with escape from jail, conspiracy and criminal damage to property over $1,000 -- charges that could add four more years behind bars if they are convicted, the News Journal reported.

Two other recaptured inmates, 26-year-old Victor Sotelo and 39-year-old Victor Apodaca, are still awaiting arraignment, the paper said.

Also arraigned Thursday were three inmates accused of assisting in the escape, the News Journal reported.

Police have said Lawrence Kolek, 26; Kevyn Crane, 27; and Manuel Lopez, 32, blocked the escapees from view as they slipped through the door of a plumbing chase, then worked their way up plumbing pipes and cut a hole in the roof, the paper said.

Because they are accused of helping convicted murderer Edward Salas escape (Salas remains at large), the three could face an additional nine years in prison, District Attorney Matt Chandler told the court. 

5:40am 9/25/08 -- Two Curry Jail Escapees May Be in Texas  : DA says 'credible tips' place remaining two inmates in the Albuquerque area.

Curry County District Attorney Matt Chandler said investigators are following up on "credible tips" that placed two of the four jail inmates who escaped last month in Amarillo and Plainview, Texas, as well as in Clovis, the Clovis News Journal reported.

Escapee Michael England, 29, has been traveling back and forth between the Amarillo area and Clovis, and according to phone tips he was seen in both areas last week, Chandler told the News Journal.

Chandler also said murder suspect Larry McClendon, 19, has been seen in the Amarillo and Plainview, Texas, area where he has family, the paper reported.

Investigators also have information that escaped murderer Edward Salas, 21, and Louis Chavez, 19, have been in the Albuquerque area since the Aug. 24 escape from the Curry County Adult Detention Center, the News Journal said.

Salas and Chavez were overheard before the escape talking about going to Albuquerque area, according to an investigative report released Tuesday.

Undersheriff Wesley Waller told the News Journal that information received on Salas pointed to several western states, including California, as well as Albuquerque, where his parents live.

Waller said it is believed the escapees remaining at large are getting help from friends and family, the News Journal said. 

5:05am 9/24/08 -- DA: Curry Jail Escapees Likely Stole Key: Report finds no indication that eight inmates had intentional help from staff.

Inmates who escaped from the Curry County jail last month most likely gained their freedom with a key swiped from guards who were busy with plumbing repairs, according to a report from the District Attorney's Office, the Clovis News Journal said.

District Attorney Matt Chandler said there is no indication that the eight inmates who escaped got intentional help from jail staff, the News Journal said.

Inmates managed to take a key left hanging in the lock of a plumbing chase, and to unlock doors and return the key without officers knowing, according to the DA's report.

Four inmates were caught within a week of the escape, but four, including a convicted murderer and a suspected killer, remain on the loose, the News Journal said.

Chandler blamed the escape on "complacency" and "a failure to pay attention to detail," the paper reported.

9:00am 9/4/08 -- Curry Jail Escape on 'America's Most Wanted': After being postponed a week, feature on Aug. 24 breakout will air on popular Fox TV show.

An in-depth segment on the Aug. 24 escape of eight inmates from the Curry County Adult Detention Center will air Saturday on the popular Fox television show "America's Most Wanted," a week after it was originally supposed to be shown, the Clovis News Journal reported.

The show's producer, Jenna Naranjo, told the News Journal that the episode will focus on the escape itself and will profile the four inmates who remain at large, including Edward Salas, who was convicted of murder in the 2005 shooting death of 10-year-old Carlos Perez.

"He's been convicted; he's a killer; he's the most dangerous and he has nothing to lose," Naranjo said of Salas.

The program is flying Clovis Police Detective Roger Grah to the East Coast studio where he will be on hand to take tips that are phoned in during the broadcast, the News Journal said.

A Webcast previewing the upcoming segment is scheduled to be posted this week on the America's Most Wanted Web site, and an Internet story is already posted on the site, Naranjo told the paper.

The program will air in Albuquerque at 8 p.m. Saturday on KASA Fox 2. 

Acting on a tip from the Curry County Sheriff's Office, marshals found escapee Victor Sotelo, who had been hiding in the Albuquerque apartment, and arrested him without incident, Action 7 News reported.

"I think it's a big catch for all law enforcement involved and the public to get one of the five (fugitives still at large as of earlier Thursday) off the streets," U.S. Marshal Richard Hoyle told KOAT-TV. "They are all considered armed and dangerous. So, that's one less to worry about."

State Police, Albuquerque police and the U.S. Marshals Service all cooperated in the effort, and Sotelo was arrested without incident, State Police Lt. Eric Garcia told ABQjournal.com 

4:30am 8/29/08 -- Four Down, Four To Go: Curry jail escapee caught in ABQ late Thursday; mother of another fugitive arrested.

A fourth inmate who escaped from the Curry County Adult Detention Center Sunday night was taken into custody late Thursday night in Albuquerque, District Attorney Matt Chandler told the Clovis News Journal.

Victor Sotelo, 26, of Portales, was arrested without incident around 11:45 p.m., Chandler told the paper.

Sotelo was facing charges of aggravated assault when he made his escape, the News Journal said. 

Four escapees remain at large from the group of eight that broke out of the Clovis jail around 9:45 p.m. Sunday, the News Journal reported.

Meanwhile, the mother of another escaped inmate, who remained at large late Thursday and who this week pleaded for her son, 29-year-old Michael England, to turn himself in, was arrested herself on Thursday, the News Journal said.

Hester England, 55, was arrested after officials said she had seen and talked with her son and another escapee since the jailbreak, the paper reported.

Court records say that her son and fugitive Larry McClendon Jr., who is charged in the 2007 death of a Clovis store owner, stopped by England's Clovis home, where McClendon's girlfriend also lives, to pick up clothes after the escape, the News Journal said.

The arrest came after Hester England's 8-year-old grandson told a school counselor that he saw his daddy while he was at his grandmother's house watching TV, according to the News Journal.

Court documents show that Hester England was interviewed by law enforcement officers Monday evening about her son and denied knowing anything about the escape, the paper said.

She was charged with harboring or aiding a felon and was released on a $6,000 bond Thursday, the News Journal reported.

DA Chandler said late Thursday that it was possible that Michael England and McClendon were still in Clovis, the paper said. 

5:05am 8/28/08 -- Six Accused of Helping Escaped Inmates: Four inside jail, two outsiders charged with helping fugitives from Sunday's Curry County breakout.

Four inmates at the Curry County Adult Detention Center were charged Wednesday with helping eight inmates break out of the jail Sunday night, and two people close to the escapees also were arrested, The Associated Press reported.

Five inmates, including convicted murderer Edward Salas and accused murderer Larry McClendon, remained at large late Wednesday, the AP reported.

Charged with helping fellow inmates make their way out of jail Sunday were Lawrence Kolek, 26; Manuel Lopez, 32; Kevyn Crane, 26; and Donald Jones, 27, all of Clovis, the AP said.

Also arrested were Isodoro Salas of Albuquerque, Edward Salas' father, who was charged with a probation violation for allegedly obstructing an officer by refusing to cooperate with the escape investigation, and Asha Currie of Clovis, the mother of escapee Michael England's child, for allegedly obstructing the investigation, according to the AP.

Sunday's escape apparently took about seven hours to complete and was a collaborative effort by inmates in two pods at the jail and involved access to a door that was supposed to be locked, according to a reconstruction of events detailed in this morning's Clovis News Journal.

Officials on Wednesday also released a surveillance video that appears to show four inmates trying to shield three other inmates who disappeared into an opening behind them, the News Journal said.

Three escapees were from one pod in the jail and five were from another, officials told the News Journal.

Meanwhile, the first escaped inmate to be recaptured -- 39-year-old Victor Apodaca, who was caught by Clovis police Sunday night -- was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of kidnapping, aggravated battery, assault with intent to commit a violent felony and trafficking methamphetamine, District Attorney Matt Chandler told the News Journal.

Apodaca also faces an additional four years for Sunday night's escape attempt, Chandler said. 

8:15am 8/27/08 -- Rewards Offered for Escapees' Capture: 'America's Most Wanted' to air segment Saturday on escaped murderer who broke out.

Curry County Crime Stoppers has increased rewards it is offering for information leading to the arrests of five inmates who are still at large following their breakout from the Curry County Adult Detention Center on Sunday night, the Clovis News Journal reported.

The biggest reward -- up to $3,000 -- is being offered for 21-year-old Edward Salas, who had been sentenced to life in prison for the 2005 fatal shooting of a 10-year-old Clovis boy and was about to be transferred to state prison when he escaped, the paper reported.

Crime Stoppers is offering up to $2,500 for the capture of accused murderer Larry McClendon, 19, the News Journal said.

A reward of up to $1,500 is offered for Michael England, 29, of Clovis, accused of tampering with evidence and being a felon in possession of a firearm; and up to $1,000 each for Victor Sotelo, 36, of Portales, aggravated assault, and Louis Chavez, 18, of Albuquerque, aggravated burglary and other charges.

The Curry County Crime Stoppers number is (575) 763-7000. 

District Attorney Matt Chandler told the News Journal that the popular and highly successful television show "America's Most Wanted" plans to air a segment on Saturday about Salas, and in an effort to help capture the fugitives, will discuss Sunday's escape.

Information about the suspects already has been posted on the "America's Most Wanted" Web site, the paper said.

According to The Associated Press, Chandler said investigators believe some of the escapees could be in West Texas.

"We're still receiving tips that some of the other fugitives, at least one or two of the other fugitives, could be in" the area of Lubbock, Chandler said.

Two of the eight inmates who shinnied up pipes and escaped after cutting a hole in the jail's roof Sunday night were recaptured in Texas in separate incidents on Monday, and one inmate was caught by Clovis police soon after the escape, the AP reported.

Also, New Mexico State Police on Tuesday began looking closely at whether anyone inside the jail helped the men escape, Chandler told the AP in a telephone interview.

They are "working that angle very hard, and that's going to be a very high-priority focus," Chandler said. 

4:40am 8/26/08 -- Five Escapees Still at Large: Three of eight inmates now in custody after Sunday night jailbreak in Curry County.

Of the eight inmates who escaped from the Curry County Adult Detention Center Sunday night, five remained at large today, officials told the Clovis News Journal.

Two of the inmates were caught Monday in Texas, the paper reported.

Raynaldo Enriquez, 19, was captured around 6:30 p.m. in the Lubbock area, according to Curry County Undersheriff Wesley Waller, and District Attorney Matt Chandler said 19-year-old Javier Zapata was taken into custody around 11:15 p.m. in Cactus, Texas, the News Journal said.

Victor Apodaca was caught by Clovis police as he ran away from the jail Sunday night, where the eight inmates had escaped by shimmying up pipes behind a wall in a jail shower, cutting a hole in the roof and using a tree to break a two-story fall, The Associated Press reported. 

Authorities spent much of the day Monday interviewing escapees' relatives and friends, and multiple homes were searched in the Clovis area, and leads took investigators to an Albuquerque home as well as Cactus, Texas, the AP reported.

Federal agencies including the FBI, the Border Patrol and the U.S. Marshals Service are on the hunt, as well as law enforcement agencies across New Mexico and West Texas, according to the AP.

A Clovis bail bondswoman told the News Journal Monday that the inmates may have had help from some detention center officers, but Undersheriff Waller said there is nothing in his agency's investigation to support allegations by Christina Snell of Hank's Bail Bonds.

"It's an inside job," Snell told the News Journal. "One of the jailers had to leave a door open; it was an inside job. It had to have been, they had to have been working on it several days."

Waller said interviews are being conducted -- "and that includes interviews of the employees" -- but no employees had been named as suspects or participants in the escape as of Monday afternoon, the News Journal said. 

11:55am 8/25/08 -- Search for Inmates Stretches from ABQ to Texas: Eight broke out of Curry County jail last night by cutting a hole in the roof, sheriff says.

Eight inmates, including a convicted murderer and another man accused of murder, broke out of the Curry County Adult Detention Center Sunday night by cutting a hole through the jail roof, the Curry County Sheriff's Department said.

All but one man, who was caught by Clovis police Sunday night, remained on the loose today and were considered armed and dangerous, the sheriff's department said in a news release.

Curry County Sheriff Matt Murray said at a news conference in Clovis this morning that his department was working on a variety of leads, including the search of a home in Albuquerque and following up a lead in Cactus, Texas, The Associated Press reported.

"Please do not approach these individuals because they are considered dangerous," Murray said at the news conference.

Murray said the men were found to be missing at 9:45 p.m. Sunday, after Clovis Police Department officers saw two men wearing orange jumpsuits running near the jail, the AP reported.

"We have a feeling that they have split up and went different ways from finding some of the jumpsuits throughout the city," said Murray, who declined to answer questions.

8:55am UPDATE: Curry County authorities are planning a morning news conference on Sunday night's escape of eight inmates from the Curry County Adult Detention Center, the Clovis News Journal is reporting.

The eight were discovered missing at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, the paper reported. 

One inmate was recaptured by Clovis police, but seven inmates remained at large this morning, the News Journal said.

Among those still at large was Edward Salas, 21, who was convicted April 11 of the September 2005 death of 10-year-old Carlos Perez and was sentenced in July to 68 years in prison, the paper reported. He is one of three brothers found guilty of the boy's murder.

Also among the escapees is 19-year-old Larry McClendon, who is accused in the January 2007 shooting death of secondhand store owner Emmett Salisbury in what police believe was a drug dispute, the News Journal said.

The jail in Clovis has been plagued by problems in recent years, including an escape attempt in July by a female prisoner who hid behind a food cart and made it to the street before being recaptured and a December 2006 escape in which local law enforcement was not notified for two days, the paper reported.

The latest escape comes during a change in jail leadership, with Warden Leslie Johnson's retirement this month, the News Journal said.

Johnson, who had run the jail since March 2006, is being replaced by Deputy Warden Audrey Barriga, who has 11 years experience in corrections, Curry County Manager Lance Pyle told the News Journal.

Here's is the news release on the escape from the Curry County Sheriff's Department from the Clovis News Journal.

Breaking at 5:53am -- Jailbreak in Clovis: Eight inmates flee from Curry County Jail shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday.

Eight inmates escaped through the roof of the Curry County Jail shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday, but one of the inmates was captured overnight, KOAT-TV is reporting.

Action 7 News said Clovis police arrested inmate Victor Apodaca, but the seven other inmates remained at large this morning. 

All the inmates are considered armed and dangerous, KOAT-TV reported.

One of those who escaped was 21-year-old Edward Salas, who was convicted for the murder of a 10-year-old Clovis boy, Action 7 News reported.

Another, Larry McClendon, is awaiting trial for murder, KOAT-TV said.

Other escapees include Victor Sotelo and Javier Zapata, who are awaiting trial for aggravated assault, and Raynaldo Enriquez, Michael England and Louis Chavez, all of whom face a variety of charges including violent crimes, the station reported.