Three caught after escape

Three juveniles are back in custody after more than 24-hours on the run from the Fout Springs Youth Facility.

The one 17-year-old and two 16-year-olds boys ran from authorities Tuesday morning, escaping the remote Stonyford detention center between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., Colusa County sheriff’s Lt. Shane Maxey said.

The boys were captured Wednesday morning about 10 a.m. after  they were discovered hiding inside a small boat trailer on property near Century Ranch about half way between Stonyford and Lodoga, Maxey said.

The teens reportedly stopped Wednesday to ask an unidentified Stonyford woman for directions to the highway. The woman, on the Fout Springs call list, quickly notified the sheriff’s office and provided deputies with the juveniles direction of travel, Maxey said.

“Three of our deputies then tracked the suspects’ to the boat trailer,” he said.

Coordinating with Fout Springs staff, deputies formed a perimeter around the property and began combing it.

The boys were arrested without incident, Maxey said.

Fout Springs’ officials said Wednesday they could not comment directly on Tuesday’s escape, pending an administrative review.

“We know how the boys got out, but I’m not able to comment on that,” facility manager Bruce Lillis said.

Lillis said that generally after an escapee is captured, he or she is held in custody until being transported back to their county of residence.

One of the 16-year-olds is from Santa Cruz County and the other two are from San Bernardino County, Maxey said.

Escapes from the facility are rare. This escape was the first in well over a year, Lillis said.

“We do screen our wards very carefully,” Lillis said. “If they have a history of going AWOL, then they are excluded.”

Lillis said the facility follows strict protocols when a child escapes.

“We notice all the coordinating agencies, including the sheriff’s office and several area residents as well,” Lillis said. “When people go AWOL, then we’re on the search 24 hours a day until we find them.”

Fout Springs is co-owned by Colusa and Solano counties but operated by the Solano County probation department.