6 Escape Riverside Jail; 3 Recaptured

Six Riverside County Jail inmates escaped Sunday night from a fourth-floor jail recreation area, but three were quickly rounded up, officials said.

Three prisoners remained at large late Sunday night. The other three were recaptured by Riverside police officers and Sheriff’s deputies in the immediate area, Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Scully said.

The breakout occurred about 8:30 p.m. when six inmates overpowered a corrections officer during a recreation period, Scully said.

The officer was handcuffed and the six fled from the area, perhaps by scaling down the courthouse building, Scully said. The exact method of escape was under investigation.

The three at large were tentatively identified as Noel Jackson, 31, a suspect in the slaying of a Corona woman; Derrick Shawn Smith, 21, of Los Angeles, who has pleaded innocent in the Jan. 1, 1986, slaying of a Los Angeles man, and Vincent Arroyo, 41, who was arrested in March on charges of robbery, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.