ESCAPED PRISONER LAST SEEN IN SPRING VALLEY AFTER STEALING FIRETRUCK

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

 

January 2, 2012 (Spring Valley) – An inmate at Donovan State Prison escaped last night by stealing a  yellow  fire truck from the correctional facility.  “It was recovered in Spring Valley at Jamacha Road and Elkelton Boulevard,” Lt. David Gilmore with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department informed East County Magazine.  The prisoner, Thomas Francis Kelley, 51, remains at large. 

Thomas had been serving time since 2008 for theft charges and driving under the influence, ECM news partner 10 News reports.  He was last seen wearing light blue faded jeans, a blue jean jacket and construction boots, according to 10 News.

There are conflicting descriptions of Kelley.  News reports list him as being between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 160-170 pounds with hazel eyes.  The San Diego Union-Tribune and 10 News list him as white, however Incident Page Network reported he is Native American.  Donovan officials were not available for comment this morning.

The fire truck was recovered in a 7-Eleven parking lot in Spring Valley after officials received a call shortly before 8:30 p.m. reporting that two men were having trouble parking the vehicle.

If you have information on Kelley’s whereabouts, please call 911 or Donovan Correctional Facility at (619)661-6500.

Sign up to receive FREE Viejas Wildfire & Emergency Alerts at the top right side of our homepage. Our alerts, which come via e-mail, cover all regional emergencies in San Diego County. You can also receive a free weekly copy of East County Magazine with news and events for San Diego's inland regions. You may also follow ViejasAlerts on Twitter for brief text alerts on your mobile device. 

We recommend signing up for all of these services on  your home, work and mobile email addresses, since you don't know what form of communications will be working during a regional emergency such as the recent blackout.

 

 

 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.