ESCAPEE ON LOOSE FOR 1 HOUR PITCHESS INMATE CAPTURED AFTER HE FLEES FROM HOSPITAL.

Byline: Amy Raisin Darvish Staff Writer

VALENCIA - A maximum-security inmate being treated at a local hospital escaped Tuesday and attacked a resident before being recaptured at the victim's home about an hour later, authorities said.

The victim, a 68-year-old man, was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital with injuries to his face, head and arms. The suspect escaped from the same hospital at about 12:30 p.m., less than 90 minutes before the victim arrived by ambulance. The escapee, 19-year-old Samuel Alvarado, serving time for burglary at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, was being treated at Newhall Memorial Hospital for an undisclosed medical condition.

Alvarado, who was being guarded by at least one sheriff's deputy at the hospital, was let out of his handcuffs to use the restroom. But once the cuffs were off, Alvarado hit the deputy with either a walker or a cane he picked up in the hospital and fled.

``The deputy was not injured,'' Deputy Rich Pena said. ``Basically it was enough to push (the deputy) over and give (Alvarado) a head start.''

The inmate was still wearing a hospital gown when he disappeared into a neighborhood just off Orchard Village Road.

Following an hourlong manhunt - complete with a helicopter and dozens of sheriff's units fanned out near Valencia Glen Park - authorities caught the escapee in a home on Avenida Jolita, with the help of a neighbor who called police after spotting the man in his back yard.

Alvarado confronted the victim in the resident's back yard, where he picked up a barbecue cleaning brush and attacked the man. The victim's screams alerted nearby deputies, who ran toward the house and caught Alvarado running from the front door of the home.

Before the inmate was recaptured, detectives and deputies from the Santa Clarita sheriff's station had begun going to door-to-door to warn residents of the situation.

As a woman pushing a toddler in a stroller walked onto Via Helina, a detective ordered her to turn back. The woman, who lived on the street, was told the suspect could be in her home or back yard.

Investigators called for a K-9 unit to pick up the inmate's scent, but the man was caught before the dog and its handler arrived from Norwalk. Investigators planned to use a pair of discarded flip-flops to familiarize the dog with the escapee's scent.

The flip-flops were found on a lawn on the corner of Avenida Jolita and Via Helina, two short blocks from the home where the suspect was recaptured. Detectives said the suspect found the flip-flops on a porch a few houses away.

Neighbors, many returning from picking up their children at school, began gathering beyond the yellow police tape, curious about the commotion.

``We came back from the store and the police wouldn't let us onto our street,'' said Wendy Bailey. ``They told us there was an escapee in the neighborhood. It's kind of scary. Very scary, actually.''

Steve Whitmore, a sheriff's department spokesman, said there is no set rule concerning removing handcuffs from inmates.

``It's a case-by-case type of thing,'' Whitmore said. ``It's up to the deputy. If the deputy does not feel the inmate is a flight risk, he or she can'' decide to remove the cuffs.

In keeping with Sheriff's Department protocol, the decision to remove the cuffs in Tuesday's incident will be investigated, Whitmore said.

Information about the victim's condition was not released.

Alvarado was taken to jail in Los Angeles where he faces charges of escaping and assault with a deadly weapon. He is being held without bail, authorities said.

Amy Raisin Darvish, [phone]

amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color in SAC edition only) Sheriff's deputies, above, escort children from the Terrific Tots day care center to their parents Tuesday, after a Pitchess inmate escaped during a visit to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.

(2 -- color -- ran in SAC edition only) The escapee, 19-year-old Samuel Alvarado, was captured in about an hour and placed in custody, right.

(3 -- color in SAC edition only) A sheriff's deputy speaks with a Valencia resident Tuesday during a search for an inmate who escaped during a visit to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.

(4 -- ran in SAC edition only) With guns drawn, sheriff's deputies conduct a search for a Pitchess inmate who escaped from Newhall Memorial Hospital on Tuesday into the surrounding Valencia neighborhood.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Map:

Suspect apprehended