California inmates escaped through a hole they cut in the ceiling, sheriff’s office says

The two inmates who escaped a Northern California jail Sunday cut a hole in the ceiling of their building, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said.

Santos Samuel Fonseca, 21, and Jonathan Salazar, 20, identified a blind spot in their housing unit of the Monterey County Adult Detention Facility and cut through the sheet rock and metal screen to make a 22-inch hole in the bathroom ceiling, Capt. John Thornburg, a sheriff’s office spokesman, told reporters Monday.

The inmates climbed through the ceiling and came down through a hatch that leads to a back door, he said. It appears they kicked the back door open and left the jail on foot, Thornburg said.

Employees were not involved in helping the men escape, Thornburg said.

Authorities are looking for the two inmates. They should be considered armed and dangerous, the sheriff’s office said.

The men were awaiting trial on unrelated murder charges and felony offenses, authorities said. The department is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to their capture.

Monterey County is south of San Jose, on the Pacific coast.