Jail inmate known as ‘Catwoman’ tried to escape through ceiling of SLO hospital, sheriff says
A sneaky San Luis Obispo County Jail inmate who goes by the alias “Catwoman” was caught last week after she tried to escape through the ceiling of a hospital restroom, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Atascadero resident Ashley Marie Moss, 30, was in jail custody Jan. 9 in lieu of $50,000 bail for an ongoing felony burglary and grand theft case, according to court records and the Sheriff’s Office, when she was transported to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo “after complaining of a nose bleed.”
While in a hospital restroom, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla said, Moss attempted to escape from the facility by removing a ceiling panel and climbing through it, into the crawlspace above the restroom.
Cipolla said deputies “immediately located (Moss) hiding about five feet from the removed ceiling tile and placed her into custody.”
A spokesperson for the hospital could not comment on the incident due to medical confidentiality laws, but Cipolla said Sierra Vista administration declined to seek a claim against the Sheriff’s Office for damage done to the ceiling panel.
Jail logs on Wednesday showed Moss was back in custody, but now held in lieu of $120,000 bail.
On Monday, the county District Attorney’s Office filed a felony complaint against Moss for attempted escape from a county jail.
The District Attorney’s Office listed her only known alias on this and previous complaints as “Catwoman.”
A District Attorney’s spokesperson was not immediately available for additional information.
Moss was a key witness in the 2015 murder trial of Thomas Yanaga, who was convicted of shooting to death Paso Robles resident Marshall Savoy, 32, following a verbal disagreement. Yanaga was sentenced to 40 years to life for the second-degree murder.
Moss is scheduled to be arraigned on the new charge Thursday morning in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 6:42 PM.
