Inmate escape fire truck

Inmate escape fire truck - Inmate steals fire truck, escapes. A convicted California car thief escaped from prison by stealing a fire truck, police say. Thomas Francis Kelley, 51, had been assigned to firefighting duties. The fire truck was recovered in Spring Valley, Calif. Kelley remains at large.
An official says an inmate escaped from a state prison in San Diego County by stealing the prison fire engine on New Year's Day.

Authorities are seeking 51-year-old Thomas Kelley, a convicted car thief who was jailed at Donovan state prison in November for a parole violation.

Prison spokesman Lt. Patrick Logan says Kelley worked as a firefighter at the prison near the Mexican border. He was discovered missing Sunday night from the minimum security section.

Logan says at about the same time, sheriff's deputies saw a fire engine being driven erratically about 10 miles from the prison. Prison officials say the driver fled when the truck was stopped.

Law enforcement officers are searching for a prisoner who stole a fire engine to escape from Richard J. Donovan state prison in Otay Mesa on New Year's Day.

Thomas Francis Kelly, 51, worked as a prison firefighter. He was locked up for a parole violation stemming from a 2008 car theft conviction, Lt. Patrick Logan of the state prison system said.

Kelley was in the minimum security section of the prison and scheduled to be released in December 2013. A prison representative said Kelley was on a 24 hour shift at the fire house, which is right outside secure grounds.

Kelley was last seen at around 6 p.m. and was reported missing during a head count about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

Prison guards said Kelley went missing about the time sheriff's deputies saw a fire engine being driven inexpertly in Spring Valley, about 10 miles away from the border-close prison. The driver jumped out and ran when a deputy tried to stop it.

Sheriff's Lt. David Gilmore, however, said the fire engine was found unoccupied at a 7-Eleven at Jamacha Road and Elkelton Boulevard in Spring Valley. Authorities searched from the air and the ground, but were unable to locate him.