EXCLUSIVE: Officers thwart Hemet Jail escape attempt

UPDATE: Friday, Oct. 26, 11:50 a.m.

See original story, photos and video below.

HEMET — Officials have identified a man who first attempted to escape from Hemet Jail and later fought with officers and hospital staff at Hemet Valley Hospital.

SEE ALSO: Officers save woman who hanged herself at Hemet Jail

After a request for information about the two violent incidents, Hemet Police Lt. Nate Miller told RCNS the alleged suspect was identified as James Brennan, 27, of Hemet.

“It wasn’t that fruitful of an escape attempt,” Miller explained, saying that due to Brennan’s “altered state,” which made him “very erratic & violent” the department had not yet decided whether to charge him with attempted escape.

According to Miller, Brennan was expected to be charged with resisting arrest with violence and being under the influence, but additional charges could be filed.

A jail records search indicated Brennan had not yet been booked into a county jail facility.

 

Original story

HEMET — Quick reacting officers in Hemet thwarted an attempted jail escape when a man who was being booked into Hemet Jail made a break for freedom, only to be re-apprehended after a struggle. According to Hemet PD, the man later fought again with officers at Hemet Valley Hospital but was again subdued.

The two back-to-back incidents caused a flurry of law enforcement activity, both at Hemet Jail as well as HVH, leaving many area residents wondering about all the lights, sirens, and heavy police presence at the two locations.

LEADING THE RCNS HEADLINES:

Officials investigating after inmate found dead inside Riverside cell

UPDATED: Four victims ID’d after 4-vehicle, DUI-related JV crash

UPDATE: Family confirms body found in Menifee field that of missing 64-year-old

Asked about the two altercations, Hemet Police Lt. Nate Miller explained to RCNS that the incidents began when a man was arrested for being under the influence of drugs. After his arrest the man, who has not yet been identified publicly, was transported to Hemet PD’s Jail on Latham St. to be booked on his charges.

During the booking process officers removed the man’s handcuffs at which time “the male made a run for a secured door inside the jail hallway,” Miller explained. Quick reacting officers chased the man through the facility while putting out on emergency radio request for priority assistance.

The radio call brought patrol officers racing to Hemet PD’s Jail from around the city, even as officers managed to apprehend and re-handcuff the man after a brief scuffle.

After the failed escape attempt and scuffle, the alleged suspect was transported to HVH for a “routine ‘OK to book,'” said Miller. However, while at the hospital the man again “became combative with officers & hospital staff.”

While officers and hospital staff attempted to subdue the violently struggling man they put out a second emergency broadcast, which brought officers flooding into the hospital from around the city.

Area residents later reported seeing eight to ten Hemet PD patrol and special teams’ vehicles racing through the city with lights and sirens, with all converging on the hospital.

“I was walking through the (hospital’s) parking lot heading to the liquor store when I saw first one and then a ton of cops racing into the parking lot,” area resident Joel Kibby later told RCNS. “Cops were flooding in from every direction and I saw all of them running into the hospital.”

“All I could think was there was something really big going on and I got the hell out of there,” said Kibby. “Whatever it was, those guys weren’t (messing) around.”

Despite the man’s violent resistance, officers quickly overwhelmed and subdued him once again and were ultimately able to admit the man into an area hospital “for observation,” Miller told RCNS, saying additional charges would be filed on the man once he is booked into jail.

This is a developing story that will be update as new information is available.

Click any image to open full-size gallery.

Gary Rainwater video

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, recently moved to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 14 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.