San Diego cops say 37 years later, fugitive’s eyes gave her away

SAN DIEGO -- A 60-year-old woman wanted for her 1977 escape from a Michigan prison was betrayed by her eyes and arrested this week in Southern California.

Police went to an apartment near Balboa Park on Monday, acting on information from the Michigan Department of Corrections, and knocked on the door.

The woman inside initially denied being fugitive Judy Lynn Hayman, giving officers the fake name of Jamie Lewis with what appeared to be government documents supporting the identity, said San Diego police Lt. Kevin Mayer.

But the officer had a photograph of Hayman from 1977, and when he compared the photo to the person who was claiming to be Jamie Lewis, Mayer told the paper the officer said it was her eyes that gave the fugitive away.

“To him, the eyes looked like the suspect,” Mayer said.

Hayman later admitted she was indeed the fugitive in question and was booked into the women’s jail in Santee to await extradition proceedings. She was arrested on a fugitive warrant.

Hayman was convicted in 1976 on a larceny charge in Wayne County. Sentenced to serve 16 to 24 months, she escaped from the Huron Valley Correctional Facility after serving 10 months.

Hayman has reportedly lived in San Diego for at least seven years.

tony.perry@latimes.com

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com