A 25-year-old inmate who walked away from a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facility in Acton has been apprehended.
Erick Mendiola was found at a residence in the Stanislaus County community of Ceres at about 10:50 a.m. May 20, then was taken to the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown and will no longer be eligible to be housed in a conservation camp, CDCR officials said.
Mendiola was committed to the CDCR on Oct. 22, 2019, from Stanislaus County to serve a six-year sentence for evading a peace officer while driving recklessly and second-degree robbery.
Authorities at Acton Conservation Camp #11 discovered during an inmate count at about 9 p.m. May 16 that Mendiola was missing and immediately searched camp buildings and the grounds without success.
His case has been referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for possible escape charges.
Since 1977, a reported 99 percent of all offenders who have left an adult institution, camp or community-based program without permission have been apprehended, according to a CDCR statement.
