Inmate Captured At Valley Motel 2 Weeks After Escape During OC Wildfire
VAN NUYS (CBSLA) – A prisoner who has been on the run since escaping from an inmate crew during the Canyon Fire 2 last month in Orange County has been captured.
Armando Castillo, 31, was arrested at a Van Nuys motel at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday by officers with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
A woman who was with Castillo at the motel, identified as Daisy Castro, was also arrested on suspicious of assisting him with his escape, CDCR reported.
On the afternoon of Oct. 15, Castillo walked away from an inmate firefighting crew near Peters Canyon Regional Park in Orange. The inmates were living in the Prado Conservation Camp in San Bernardino County at the time.
Castillo had been serving a five-year sentence since August 2016 for possession of a firearm and evading a peace officer while driving recklessly. Prior to his escape, he had been scheduled to be released on probation in May 2018. He will likely face new charges and will no longer be eligible to live at a fire camp, CDCR said.
Inmates like Castillo earn $1 an hour for fighting fires and get two days' credit for time served for each day they battle a blaze.