A man serving time for kidnapping and assault with a firearm who escaped from a Los Angeles reentry program has been taken back into custody, authorities said on Tuesday.
Rafael Rodriguez, 26, had been housed at a Male Community Reentry Program in Los Angeles since mid-January. He was sentenced in Orange County in 2019 to a 12-year sentence, according to a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
On Monday, April 8, Rodriguez was reported missing at around 7:40 p.m. after authorities were alerted to the removal of his ankle monitor.
Staff at the reentry program, located in downtown Los Angeles according to a county website, conducted an emergency count of inmates and confirmed that Rodriguez was missing.
CDCR officials and other law enforcement agencies immediately began a search. It’s unclear how far Rodriguez may have gone, or exactly how he went missing.
At around 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Rodriguez was taken into custody in Los Angeles and transported to the California Institution for Men prison in Chino, according to the CDCR.
Rodriguez’s case will go to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for potential escape charges.
Rodriguez, a Bellflower resident, was arrested in 2018 after a robbery and assault at a Santa Ana business was caught on camera, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
MORE INFORMATION: Suspect arrested in Santa Ana robbery, assault caught on surveillance video
Police believed Rodriguez entered a business and pointed a handgun at a victim while assaulting her and demanding money.
Anyone who sees Rodriguez or knows where he might be can contact local law enforcement or call 9-1-1, according to CDCR.
Rodriguez is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing around 170 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. He was last seen wearing khaki pants and a black hooded sweatshirt.
Under the Community Reentry program, inmates can serve the end of their sentences in reentry centers and are…
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