NEW YORK, NY – An inmate who disappeared from a California prison camp nearly 13 years ago has been apprehended in New York City, corrections officials announced.
Eduardo Hernandez, who vanished from the Delta Conservation Camp in Suisun City in November 2011, was arrested without incident on May 20, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Hernandez, sentenced to 13 years for carjacking with a firearm enhancement, will be extradited back to California and may face additional escape charges.
The CDCR highlighted that since 1977, 99 percent of individuals who have escaped from adult institutions, camps, or community-based programs have been recaptured. Hernandez’s escape in 2011 involved another inmate, Jose Padilla, who remains at large. Both men were last seen early in the morning of November 15, 2011, wearing orange prison attire labeled “C.D.C.R. prisoner.”
The Delta Conservation Camp, located in California’s Bay Area, primarily provides incarcerated fire crews for wildfire suppression in the Sonoma, Lake, Napa, and Solano County areas. Hernandez’s capture follows the recent recapture of another inmate, James Xiong, who escaped from the same camp in mid-May. Xiong, sentenced to one year and four months for firearm possession, was found in Monterey after a two-week search, during which officers used physical force and a taser to detain him.
The CDCR’s efforts to maintain security and recapture escapees underscore the challenges and complexities of managing prison populations and ensuring public safety.