By Chris De Benedetti
Oakland Tribune
FREMONT, Calif. — Authorities recaptured a 21-year-old county inmate Thursday, hours after he escaped from the courthouse where he was scheduled to appear to face two felony charges, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.
But Mohit Basandrai, of Hayward, never made it to his court hearing.
He was being detained in the Fremont Hall of Justice’s holding area about 11:15 a.m. when he sneaked away from deputies and fled the courthouse, Sgt. J.D. Nelson said.
“He had been held in an area away from other inmates,” Nelson said.
About 2:15 p.m., members of the Sheriff’s Office Gang Unit found Basandrai walking along Sleepy Hollow Avenue South in Hayward, near his residence, and took him into custody, authorities said.
He was arrested on suspicion of escape from custody.
Basandrai is not believed to be a gang member, but the special unit was called in because “they have a way of shaking the bushes,” he said.
The sheriff’s office still trying to find out how the man escaped and how he got to his Hayward neighborhood, about 10 miles from the Fremont court, Nelson said.
“Obviously, there was a major breach in security that we have to make sure doesn’t happen again,” he said. “Whether it was a flaw in the physical design of the courthouse, or human error is to blame, we’re working right now to correct the problem.”
Basandrai was wearing a colorful county-issued prison jumpsuit when he escaped, but he was wearing street clothes when he was recaptured, police said.
“He was dressed kind of crazy and wearing shorts on a drizzly day — that kind of made him stand out,” Nelson said.
Basandrai had been scheduled Thursday to face charges of possession of stolen property and joy-riding after being arrested July 26 in Union City.
He was being held on $40,000 bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.
Copyright 2011 Contra Costa Newspapers
All Rights Reserved