Two California inmates on the run after courthouse escape 

Two inmates charged with armed robbery are on the run after making a dramatic escape from a suburban Northern California courthouse and fleeing in a car waiting outside for them. 

Tramel McClough, 46, and John Bivins, 47, managed to break free from the sheriff’s deputy who was guarding them at the Palo Alto Courthouse in Silicon Valley on Monday.

The two, who authorities say are dangerous, escaped from the deputy as he escorted them through a public hallway outside a courtroom where McClough and Bivins were due to face a hearing.

Tramel McClough (left) and John Bivins (right) managed to break free from the sheriff’s deputy who was guarding them at the Palo Alto Courthouse in Silicon Valley on Monday

They ran through an emergency exit, down stairs and outside to a waiting car, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office. 

They abandoned the car a few blocks away for a U-Haul moving van.

Police found a handcuff key and discarded restraints nearby. 

A wide scale search is still underway and people have been asked to call police if they see the two men but not to approach them. 

The Palo Alto Police Department said on Twitter that the men were believed to have left the area in a vehicle and officers were not searching for them in the city.  

Police found a handcuff key and discarded restraints nearby and launched a wide scale search for the two missing inmates

They escaped as they were being escorted through a public hallway outside a Palo Alto courtroom (above) where McClough and Bivins were due to face a hearing

‘The level of sophistication and brazenness it takes for the individuals to do that – that is why we’re calling on the public and other allied agencies to help,’ Sgt. Reggie Cooks said.

McClough and Bivins were being held without bail after they were charged with robbing a a Verizon store of $64,000 in merchandise in February.

Police have said they tied up the store employees, forced one to open a safe and were arrested a short time later after a car chase.

Authorities are investigating how the two men managed to elude the deputy and who helped them escape in the two waiting vehicles.