Prison Escapee Surrenders
An inmate who escaped from the California Rehabilitation Center on Oct. 22 turned himself in at the prison gate early Thursday morning.
Ruben Torres, 23, walked away from a 10-man prison crew working at the Norco Community Center, near Hamner Avenue and 6th Street.
Torres apparently spent most of his time near his San Diego home, said Lt. George Morgan, public information officer for the medium-security state prison.
“His family and his attorney have been encouraging him to turn himself in,” Morgan said.
Prison officials will ask the Riverside County district attorney to file a charge of escape from prison against Torres, Morgan said. Meanwhile, Torres will be held in close-custody facilities at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
Torres is serving a “civil commitment” for drug rehabilitation in the Norco prison after he was convicted of grand theft for a purse snatching in San Diego County, said Les Johnson, a Corrections Department spokesman.
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