Subject: [NEXTEL-1] GPS Catches Crooks-

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 02 Oct 2003 09:37:47 -0400

2 Escape From Irvine Jail; 1 Is Captured After Chase

Inmates leave Musick by scaling a razor fence and then crawling through a 
storm drain.

By Mai Tran
LA Times Staff Writer

October 1, 2003

A Newport Beach man once accused of impersonating an attorney escaped from a 
low-security jail in Irvine with an accomplice Tuesday in a flight that 
involved bloodied razor wire, a rented getaway car and a televised high-speed
chase.

The escapee's undoing, authorities said, was that the getaway car, rented by 
an unknowing accomplice, was equipped with an electronic-tracking device.

Mark Thomas Georgantas, 41, of Newport Beach eventually surrendered to 
officials after a pursuit through Orange and Los Angeles counties. Authorities are 
still searching for James William Costilow, 23, of Riverside.

Georgantas was serving time for grand theft and conspiracy to defraud and was 
awaiting trial on other charges, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange 
County Sheriff's Department. Costilow had been arrested on suspicion of 
possessing burglary tools and was also awaiting trial, Amormino said.

The men were present during a midnight roll call at the James A. Musick 
Branch Jail, a minimum security jail in Irvine, but were missing during a 5 a.m. 
check, Amormino said.

"Somehow, they were able to leave their barracks without setting off the 
alarm," he said.

The men climbed over the first row of razor-wire fences into a field, then 
tried to climb over a second set of 15-foot fences topped with two rows of razor 
wire, Amormino said. After the men got scraped up, they slipped through a 
storm drain that they pried open with a bar found at the farm.

"The storm drain cover was fastened to the cement with a dozen bolts," 
Amormino said.

The men ran through an industrial complex at Alton Parkway and Irvine 
Boulevard, where they left behind blood and jail-issued jumpsuits, then fled in 
different directions, officials said. Costilow may have been picked up by a
waiting 
car. Georgantas ran to a nearby pay phone, where he called his girlfriend, 
who picked him up in a rented car at Trabuco and Culver drives. 

"He tricked her into picking him up by saying that he was being released 
early from jail," Amormino said.

When she arrived, they got into an argument and Georgantas pushed her out of 
the car and fled, he said. The unidentified woman will not face criminal 
charges, authorities said.

The escapes prompted a seven-hour manhunt with helicopters, bloodhounds and a 
search team. The rental car company eventually activated the car's 
global-positioning-satellite system, which spotted Georgantas about 2:30 p.m. at
Eastern 
and 3rd streets in an unincorporated area of East Los Angeles, authorities 
said.

Georgantas led officials on a 30-minute pursuit that snaked through Alhambra, 
west on the San Bernardino Freeway, then south on the Long Beach Freeway, 
where he got off at Washington Boulevard, said California Highway Patrol Officer 
Ron Burch. When he tried to get back on the freeway, CHP officers rammed his 
car to try to stop him but were unsuccessful.

Georgantas continued north on the Long Beach Freeway to the Santa Ana 
Freeway, then north on the Hollywood Freeway before the car's right front tire
blew 
out. He got off at Alameda Street, and his car was boxed in behind a city bus 
near Arcadia Street. He got out of the car with his hands in the air, waving a 
note, and was arrested without further incident. It was unknown what the note 
said.

Authorities said that Georgantas now faces additional charges of jail escape, 
carjacking, robbery, assault and reckless driving. Costilow will face escape 
charges when he is caught, Amormino said. Both men, he added, will be 
transferred to the Orange County Jail, a maximum security facility.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this 
report.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-escape1oct01001425,1,4979460.story

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/