Crime & Safety

Minimum-Security Inmate Walks Away from Fire Camp Near Beaumont

The man walked away-- and then apparently decided to turn himself in.

A prison inmate with one year left on his sentence walked away from a minimum-security fire camp and detention center 10 miles north of Beaumont and evaded capture for nearly 24 hours, authorities say.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials reported that James Murray, 49, had missed a routine bed check in his dorm room, CDCR Sgt. Frank Martinez said. Local deputies in the Banning and Yucaipa area were called at 10:05 p.m. Saturday.

Murray was serving a four-year sentence for second degree burglary and worked as an inmate firefighter at the Oak Glen Conservation Camp in Yucaipa.

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Trained dogs and a sheriff's helicopter crew were used during a search but "no luck," Martinez said. The dogs lost Murray's scent along the road, indicating that he may have gotten a ride from the area, Martinez speculated.

Then, just after 9 p.m. Easter Sunday, Murray apparently had a change of heart about running away.

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“He turned himself in," CDCR Officer D. Jones told Patch Monday morning.  "He’s currently being transported to the Chino Institution for Men."

According to Jones, the man showed up at the fire camp on his own accord.

Records showed Murray was scheduled for release Nov. 8, 2015 but good conduct credits could have made him eligible for early release as soon as August, Martinez said.

Murray likely faces more time in prison and would no longer be eligible for minimum security facilities like fire camp.

"I can't rehabilitate them all," Martinez said.

– City News Service contributed to this report.


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