Escaped attempted murder suspect captured by police in Hollywood

Authorities at the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino County are remaining tight-lipped about how a 29-year-old attempted murder suspect was able to escape Sunday and avoid capture for more than 24 hours.

Deshaun Stamps, a Riverside resident detained since January 2023, escaped from the Rancho Cucamonga facility during an outdoor recreation period around 12:20 p.m., the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Press.

“He was there during recess time and that’s when we first found out he was missing,” SBSD spokesperson Mara Rodriguez told Shelby Nelson from KTLA.

The 29-year-old man was located and arrested today near Formosa and Hawthorn avenues in Hollywood by Los Angeles Department officers just before 6 p.m., according to an SBSD news release.

It is unclear how Stamps was able to travel nearly 52 miles from the West Valley Detention Center to where he was booked into custody in Hollywood.

Authorities have provided few details about how Stamps escaped, whether he simply walked away or scaled one of several fences topped with barbed wire. Authorities say these questions are part of their investigation and, at least for now, they are not saying whether they have the answers.

“All of our inmates are monitored during their recreation hours,” Rodriguez said. “As far as this particular situation and who was monitoring, how it was monitored, all of that will be part of the internal investigation.”

Authorities began their search yesterday by helicopter and on the ground using K-9s.

“They’ll probably find him eventually, but it makes me uncomfortable,” an Upland resident identified only as Carol told KTLA.

The news of the attempted murder suspect’s escape had many local residents on edge.

“I feel like the care could have been a little better,” said Rancho Cucamonga resident Gaby Soza. “They could have monitored him more, so it scares me a little bit that more people might come out.”

Last week at the facility, another inmate, Christopher Lommie Jackson, who has been in custody since 2019 on several violent charges, including alleged murder, attempted to stab another inmate and an SBSD deputy guard with a manufactured knife in prison during an attack. which was captured by surveillance cameras.

As for Stamps, court records show he was charged in November 2022 with attempted murder, assault with a firearm on a peace officer, vandalism and attempting to remove the gun from an agent. The 29-year-old also has several prior felony convictions.