3 INMATES ESCAPE FROM PRISON CAMP.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

ACTON - Authorities are searching for three minimum-security inmates who escaped from a state prison fire camp.

Authorities don't know whether convicted burglar and forger Scott Matteo, extortionist Manuel Soler and Julian Ruiz, convicted of disregard for safety, are still in the area or were picked up by an accomplice after leaving the Soledad Canyon Road camp.

``The search is ongoing for these guys,'' California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Lt. Ken Lewis said. ``Every effort is being made to capture all three of these men.''

The men were last seen about 8:50 p.m. Monday in living quarters at the camp, but were discovered missing during a head count at 10:30 p.m. Monday, Lewis said.

Camp 11, on the 8800 block of Soledad Canyon Road, holds state prison inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes, Lewis said. They are allowed out of the camp to fight wildfires and to do conservation projects as work crews.

Matteo had been in prison since 2002 and had four years left to serve, prison records show. Soler, imprisoned for two years, had 20 months to serve. Ruiz, imprisoned since February 2004, had 14 months to serve.

Matteo had been convicted in Orange County, Ruiz in Ventura County and Soler in Los Angeles County.

Matteo, 37, was described as white and Latino, about 6 feet tall and 160 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes and tattoos on his back and arms. Ruiz, 25, was described as Latino, 5-foot-9 and 260 pounds, with brown hair and eyes with tattoos on his neck and the top of his head.

Soler, 27, was described as Latino, 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and numerous tattoos on his neck, torso, arms, hands and legs.

Charles F. Bostwick, [phone]

chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) MATTEO

(2 -- color) RUIZ

(3 -- color) SOLER