Monterey County Jail escapees used cleaning brush to break through ceiling, deputies say

Joe Szydlowski | The Californian

Two murder suspects escaped from the Monterey County Jail last month by using a cleaning brush to knock a hole in the stucco and sheet rock ceiling, authorities said Friday.

Santos Fonseca, 21, and Jonathan Salazar, 20, were arrested Nov. 5 when they willingly crossed into the U.S. from Mexico at the border, three days after their escape, said Det. Sgt. David Vargas at Fonseca’s preliminary hearing Friday.

Fonseca has pleaded not guilty.

Vargas testified Fonseca said in a post-capture interrogation that he’d used a “hard-plastic” cleaning brush to hit the ceiling and create a hole in a jail bathroom.

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"Fonseca described hitting it against the ceiling," he said. "The ceiling is made of stucco, just like typical residential walls... Sheet rock and stucco. It's a combination of both."

The hole was in a blindspot in the communal bathroom that could only be seen by someone inside the restroom, deputies have said.

Then Fonseca climbed through the hole Nov. 3, Vargas said. Deputies have said Salazar also escaped with Fonseca by going through the 11-inch-wide hole, then through an maintenance gap between walls and finally out a hatch that was kicked open.

But Fonseca’s defense attorney, Monique Hill, disputed that Fonseca made the hole.

“The hole was huge. It was made by a brush?” she said after the hearing.

She said deputies’ testimony left many holes in their account of the escape. There wasn’t anything beyond Fonseca’s statement indicating he made the hole, and people do confess to actions they didn’t commit, she said. Whether he made the hole would make a major difference in the potential sentence for the escape charge, Hill said.

“How do we know Mr. Fonseca didn’t crawl through it?” Hill said. “Frankly, I don’t think the sergeant knows or the deputy knows.”

She also questioned whether there was prior damage before the hole existed, noting that Jail Deputy Jesus Tejeda testified paper was covering the hole when it was discovered.

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Deputy District Attorney Stefanie Zamora said Fonseca had at least been working on the hole for some time the day before his escape, but the exact amount of time isn’t clear.

However, she said the hole wasn’t there before Fonseca and Salazar began working on their escape plan.

Judge Pamela Butler initially acknowledged prosecutors hadn’t shown Fonseca caused the hole, only that there was enough evidence to believe he’d gone through it, for the case to proceed.

“There’s no doubt there’s a hole,” Butler said. “The question is: How do you prove this defendant caused the hole rather than took the opportunity?”

After Vargas testified about Fonseca’s statement, Butler ordered Fonseca to stand trial on an escape charge and a vandalism charge.

Both men were arrested at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after they crossed the border willingly, Vargas said.

Salazar gave his name, while Santos used his first name.

Zamora said she didn’t know why both men returned to the United States together after they’d fled to Mexico. She said there was no law enforcement agency that made them return.

At a November hearing for Salazar, his mother said he returned because he was concerned about the effect the escape and ensuing media spotlight on his case was having on her.

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After news of their escape emerged, the story went viral and was covered nationwide. The sheriff’s office also initiated a search that included a standoff at a Marina motel, but both men were long gone.

Salazar is facing one count of murder in an unrelated case. His preliminary hearing on the escape allegations is pending.

Fonseca is facing two counts of murder in an unrelated case.

He is next scheduled to appear in court Dec. 20.

More details on Fonseca's murder case:

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Joe Szydlowski is a multimedia journalist for the Salinas Californian who covers local government, crime and cannabis. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JoeSzyd_Salinas. He can be reached at 235-2360. Help support The Californian's work: https://bit.ly/2Qo298J