Escaped Chino Inmate Makes It to Encinitas Before Being Caught

CHINO (CBSLA) – An inmate convicted of vehicle theft who escaped from a California state prison in Chino Sunday was captured in San Diego County.

Michael Garrett, 33, was caught at 6:05 p.m. Monday in front of a Vons grocery store in the city of Encinitas, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports.

He was tracked to the store by a CDCR fugitive apprehension team and peacefully arrested.

There was no word on how he may have escaped and he how he made it as far as Encinitas, which is about 90 miles away.

At around 9:15 p.m. Sunday, Garrett was discovered missing from the California Institution for Men (CIM), located at 14901 Central Ave., during an inmate count.

Garrett was serving a four-year sentence out of San Diego County for convictions of first-degree burglary, evading or attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly and vehicle theft. He began serving his sentence at CIM on Oct. 30, 2017. He was scheduled for parole in October of 2019.

He is considered a low-level offender. He was not armed when he committed the original crime.

CIM houses 3,400 minimum and medium security inmates.