An Orange County jail inmate tried to escape from the Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana Tuesday, but quick-thinking deputies foiled the plan, authorities said.
Michael Johannes Palko, 31, was dressed in civilian clothes in what’s called a “control area” of the jail, where visitors enter and exit, at about 6 or 7 a.m. Tuesday, said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Palko was originally arrested in May 2021 and booked on suspicion of a robbery in San Clemente, Braun said.
Deputies recognized the inmate, however, and took him back into custody where he was being housed, Braun said.
Deputies conducted a full count of inmates at the Men’s Central Jail and the Intake Release Center and everyone was accounted for, Braun added.