SANTA CRUZ – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials today announced the apprehension of a minimum-security inmate who walked away from Ben Lomond Conservation Camp on Dec. 28, 2016.
At 4:35 p.m. this afternoon, inmate Russell Helton, 40, was apprehended by CDCR Special Service Unit agents in the Santa Cruz area. He was discovered missing by camp staff last Wednesday during a routine count.
Inmate Helton was assigned to an inmate firefighting crew at CC #45 near Santa Cruz. The camp houses approximately 100 minimum-custody inmates.
Helton will be transported back to the California Correctional Center in Susanville, and will no longer be eligible to be housed in a Conservation Camp. Helton was received by CDCR on Dec. 2015 from Sacramento County, with a four year sentence for grand theft.
Since 1977, 99 percent of all offenders who have left an adult institution, camp, or community-based program without permission have been apprehended.
Contact: Lt. Aaron Yderraga
(530) 257-2181