Manhunt For Jailed Child Molestation Suspect Who Fought Deputy, Escaped From San Jose Hospital
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A county jail inmate who escaped from Valley Medical Center Friday afternoon after he allegedly fought with and injured a deputy was arrested last year on suspicion of child molestation, a Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office spokesman said Friday.
Johnell Carter, 40, has been in jail since March 2014 on five counts of child molestation, according to Sgt. James Jensen.
At 1:23 p.m., deputies received a report of an inmate who injured a deputy in a fight and was last seen fleeing near the intersection of Thornton Way and Moorpark Avenue in the northwest edge of the medical center, Jensen said.
The inmate, later identified as Carter, had been transported for medical treatment and either after or during his treatment he clashed with the deputy and ran away, Jensen said.
"During the appointment, he was able to get away from deputies. He injured a deputy and then escaped," Jensen said.
Sheriff's deputies called off the search just before 6:00 p.m., believing Carter had escaped. But as night fell, the San Jose Police Department flooded a nearby neighborhood after reports that he had been spotted there.
Police said they attempted to catch Carter after he allegedly broke into a residence to steal some clothes, but he was able to escape again.
"We were searching door to door. We searched backyards. We believe that he got out of our perimeter," Jensen said late Friday night.
Carter is described as an African-American male, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 220 pounds with a shaved head and the word "Alice" tattooed on his neck and wearing a jail-issued green shirt and pants.
The deputy who was in the fight is being treated for non-life threatening injuries, according to Jensen.
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