Sheriff’s deputies search Gilroy Days Inn for escaped inmate

Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies set up surveillance at a Gilroy hotel Sunday night after several callers reported seeing an escaped inmate there.

San Jose resident Rogelio Chavez, 33, escaped from the main jail in San Jose on Wednesday night. Laron Campbell, 26, of Palo Alto, also escaped along with two other inmates who were quickly apprehended.

Several callers told sheriff’s deputies on Sunday that they had seen Chavez at the Days Inn at 8292 Murray Ave.

Deputies responded to the hotel at around 11:15 p.m. and found a room that may have been associated with Chavez, but stopped the search at the hotel when they didn’t find him there.

All four inmates used bed sheets and clothes to lower themselves from a second-floor cell window on Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies said.

The men cut through the window bars, but investigators didn’t find any cutting tools in the cell or the surrounding area.

Surveillance video showed Campbell and Chavez outside a perimeter of officers around the jail, sheriff’s deputies said.

Federal law enforcement personnel have joined local agencies in the search for the two fugitives.

Chavez was booked into the jail on Aug. 17 on charges including burglary, extortion, false imprisonment, resisting arrest and firearms violations, deputies said.

Chavez is Hispanic, stands 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 190 pounds. He has a distinctive facial tattoo below and above his left eye, deputies said.

Campbell was booked into the jail on Feb. 12, 2015 on charges including robbery, false imprisonment, criminal threats and firearms deputies, according to deputies. He is black, stands 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds.

Chavez and Campbell are considered dangerous, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Rich Glennon said. Anyone who sees either fugitive should use extreme caution and call 911.

Anyone with information on this case has been asked to call Santa Clara County sheriff’s investigators at (408) 808-4500 or the office’s anonymous tip line at (408) 808-4431.