Escaped Prisoner Found by Deputies

Escaped prisoner Raymond Perez--who was on the run for two weeks--is now awaiting arraignment at Ventura County Jail on a slew of charges after being nabbed by a team of undercover sheriff’s deputies.

The 22-year-old Perez slipped out of his handcuffs while waiting in a Sheriff’s Department interview room July 19 and then walked out of the building unnoticed, officials said. He had initially been arrested in Camarillo on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs and possessing drug paraphernalia.

A team of deputies with the sheriff’s Crime Suppression Unit tracked Perez down in Ventura about 7 p.m. Wednesday, said Capt. Geoff Dean, who heads the unit. “We’d been working the area for more than a week,” Dean said.

Perez was spotted by deputies in unmarked cars riding his bike in the area of Ventura and West Park Row avenues, he said.

After a short foot chase, the deputies wrestled Perez to the ground and found that he had a handgun concealed in his waistband, Dean said. Perez, who is being held without bail, now faces felony charges for his escape and carrying a concealed weapon in addition to the drug and parole violation charges he was originally arrested on, Dean said.

After Perez escaped from the interview room, department officials reviewed their security procedures and took corrective measures, Dean said.