Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

1 day ago

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

1 day ago

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

1 day ago

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

1 day ago

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

1 day ago

Construction of $200M Trump Ballroom at the White House to Begin in September

2 days ago

US Senate Committee Backs $1 Billion for Ukraine in Pentagon Spending Bill

2 days ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

2 days ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

3 days ago
Sheriff: Murder Suspects Who Escaped Salinas Jail Arrested
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
November 6, 2019

Share

SAN FRANCISCO — Two murder suspects who escaped from jail in Salinas over the weekend were arrested by federal officials, authorities said Wednesday.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said in a tweet that Jonathan Salazar, 20, and Santos Fonseca, 21, were arrested by Customs and Border Protection officials. It says it will have more information at a news conference later Wednesday morning.
Salazar was reported to be at a motel in Marina about 10 miles from the Marin County jail in Salinas, but authorities found no one there Tuesday night after a nearly eight-hour standoff.
Salazar and Fonseca escaped Sunday from the jail after climbing thorough a hole they made in the ceiling of a bathroom, squeezing through a hollow wall and kicking open a hatch.
Both had been in custody since 2018 and were awaiting trial on murder counts and “numerous other felony charges” in separate cases.
Investigators have not yet determined how long they worked on making the hole or if anyone else helped them escape the jail in the farming city of about 160,000 people roughly 100 miles south of San Francisco. They were reported missing at 8:15 a.m. Sunday.

Photo of the hole that Santos Fonseca and Jonathan Salazar escaped through
This photo provided Monday, Nov. 4, 2019, by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office shows a hole that Santos Fonseca and Jonathan Salazar escaped through in the county jail in Salinas, Calif. Two murder suspects escaped the jail over the weekend after climbing through the hole they made in a bathroom ceiling in their housing unit and then working their way through a wall until they reached a hatch they kicked open to leave the building, an official said Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. (Monterey County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

Fonseca Told Police That His Gang Leader Told Him to Kill Someone

Salazar was arrested in the shooting death of a 20-year-old man as the victim drove in Salinas with his girlfriend and 18-month-old son. The woman was shot and treated at a hospital, while the child wasn’t hurt.
Police investigated the Oct. 12, 2017, shooting as gang-related. Officers said his tattoos, including the letter P on his cheek, refer to his Sureño offshoot gang, La Posada Trece, the Californian reported. His trial was scheduled to begin in January.
Fonseca is charged with shooting a 37-year-old man to death on June 2, 2018, while the victim sat in his car on a video call with his wife in Mexico, the Californian reported.
She saw a scuffle, heard her husband screaming “no” and then gunshots rang out, Salinas police Officer Froylan Aranda said.
Fonseca told police that his gang leader told him to kill someone to prove he was still loyal to the “Boronda gang,” detective Gabriela Contreras testified. The victim was reportedly chosen at random.
Three days later, Fonseca shot and killed a 27-year-old man in a Salinas park, authorities said. He told police that the gang leader also ordered the slaying and that he picked his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend “to send him a message,” Contreras said.

Photo of the hole that Santos Fonseca and Jonathan Salazar escaped through
Photo provided by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office shows a hole cut into the ceiling and the area that Santos Fonseca and Jonathan Salazar escaped from in the county jail in Salinas. The two murder suspects escaped the jail over the weekend after climbing through the hole they made in a bathroom ceiling in their housing unit and then working their way through a wall until they reached a hatch they kicked open to leave the building. (Monterey County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

India Will Buy Russian Oil Despite Trump’s Threats, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

The US Said It Had No Choice but to Deport Them to a Third Country. Then It Sent Them Home

DON'T MISS

Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s Dog Daze Fest Returns With The Chainsmokers Headlining

DON'T MISS

Willow the Streetwise Poodle Mix Gets a Second Chance

DON'T MISS

Newsom Wants Voters to Weigh In on New Congressional Districts in November

DON'T MISS

Kia America Recalls 201,149 US Telluride Vehicles

DON'T MISS

US Reviewing Visa Denial for Venezuelan Little League Players, State Department Says

DON'T MISS

Hamas Says It Won’t Disarm Unless Independent Palestinian State Established

DON'T MISS

Gifford Fire Grows to 23,588 Acres in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Counties

UP NEXT

Gifford Fire Grows to 23,588 Acres in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Counties

UP NEXT

US Judges Speak Out About Death Threats, ‘Swattings,’ and ‘Pizza Doxings’

UP NEXT

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

UP NEXT

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida Prison to Lower-Security Facility

UP NEXT

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

UP NEXT

Yosemite’s Largest Campground Reopens Friday After $26.2 Million Renovation

UP NEXT

Kamala Harris Will Not Run for Governor of California in 2026

UP NEXT

California Under Tsunami Advisory After Magnitude 8.7 Earthquake

UP NEXT

As Trump Cuts Education, Candidates Line Up for California’s Top Schools Job

UP NEXT

What’s Behind California’s Frozen Housing Market?

Fresno’s Dog Daze Fest Returns With The Chainsmokers Headlining

8 hours ago

Willow the Streetwise Poodle Mix Gets a Second Chance

9 hours ago

Newsom Wants Voters to Weigh In on New Congressional Districts in November

9 hours ago

Kia America Recalls 201,149 US Telluride Vehicles

9 hours ago

US Reviewing Visa Denial for Venezuelan Little League Players, State Department Says

9 hours ago

Hamas Says It Won’t Disarm Unless Independent Palestinian State Established

9 hours ago

Gifford Fire Grows to 23,588 Acres in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Counties

10 hours ago

Fresno Donates Firefighting Gear to Sister City Guadalajara

10 hours ago

Corruption Scandal Puts Mexico’s President on Defense Against Trump

11 hours ago

US Judges Speak Out About Death Threats, ‘Swattings,’ and ‘Pizza Doxings’

1 day ago

India Will Buy Russian Oil Despite Trump’s Threats, Officials Say

NEW DELHI — Indian officials said Saturday that they would keep purchasing cheap oil from Russia despite a threat of penalties from Presiden...

5 hours ago

A view shows oil pump jacks outside Almetyevsk in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia June 4, 2023. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

India Will Buy Russian Oil Despite Trump’s Threats, Officials Say

A Lao man deported from the U.S. holds up his non-national ID card - a document that defines his legal status in the country he left behind decades ago, and to which he has now returned, in Vientiane, Laos, July 31, 2025. REUTERS/Phoonsab Thevongsa
7 hours ago

The US Said It Had No Choice but to Deport Them to a Third Country. Then It Sent Them Home

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on his way to New Jersey from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., August 1, 2025. (Reuters File)
7 hours ago

Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

8 hours ago

Fresno’s Dog Daze Fest Returns With The Chainsmokers Headlining

After surviving more than six months alone on the streets, a 15-pound poodle mix named Willow is now safe and learning to trust humans again. (Mell's Mutts)
9 hours ago

Willow the Streetwise Poodle Mix Gets a Second Chance

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks to the press after a hearing on the use of National Guard troops amid federal immigration sweeps, at the California State Supreme Court in San Francisco, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters FIle)
9 hours ago

Newsom Wants Voters to Weigh In on New Congressional Districts in November

2025 Kia Telluride is displayed during the Los Angeles Auto Show, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 21, 2024. (Reuters File)
9 hours ago

Kia America Recalls 201,149 US Telluride Vehicles

Venezuelan baseball player Abraham Gutierrez, a member of Cacique Mara, a baseball youth team that will not be participating in the 2025 Little League World Series after their U.S. visa was denied, prepares for a practice session in Maracaibo, Venezuela, August 1, 2025. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
9 hours ago

US Reviewing Visa Denial for Venezuelan Little League Players, State Department Says

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend