Prison inmate escapes from L.A. County halfway house after his GPS monitor is removed

A state prison inmate serving out the rest of his sentence at a Los Angeles halfway house managed to escape Thursday after his GPS device was removed, authorities said.

The search for Chance Locke, 47, began at about 1:30 p.m., when officials learned that his GPS device was removed while he was at an off-site medical appointment, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

How the device was removed is under investigation, but inmates typically would not have the GPS monitor removed during a medical appointment, CDCR Press Secretary Vicky Waters said.

Locke’s GPS monitor was later found, but he remains at large.

According to records in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Locke pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree robbery in 2013 and was serving a seven-year, eight-month prison sentence.

Locke had been serving his prison sentence at the California Institution for Men in Chino, about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. He was transferred to the Male Community Reentry Program facility in L.A. County on March 21, and he was scheduled to go on probation in October.

Correctional officials say the reentry program is for inmates in the final year of their prison sentence. All inmates wear GPS devices.

Some inmates come and go from the facility to attend school or look for jobs, CDCR spokeswoman Krissi Khokhobashvili previously told The Times.

“Some people refer to them colloquially as halfway houses — it’s not a prison, not a jail. It’s a reentry facility, designed with reentry in mind,” Khokhobashvili said in August after an inmate walked away from a halfway house in August. That inmate was later apprehended.

Locke is black and stands 5 feet 9 inches tall. He weighs 208 pounds.

Anyone who sees him is asked to contact 911.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

UPDATES:

9:20 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from a state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation representative.

This article was originally published at 9:10 p.m.