3 Teen-Agers Captured After Whittier Escape

Three teen-agers who had escaped from the custody of correctional authorities earlier this week while working on a cleanup crew in downtown Whittier were captured Wednesday at a city park, police said.

On Tuesday, the teen-agers, one 16 and two 17, had fled “from the work site and our man notified us immediately,” said Michael J. Nakuin, a spokesman for the Fred C. Nelles School, which is operated by the California Youth Authority.

Officials declined to release the teen-agers’ names because they are juveniles. One of the escapees had been in custody for stealing a car, another had committed robbery and the third had escaped from a county facility in 1986, Nakuin said.

The three were part of a work crew of 11 teen-agers overseen by two supervisors, Nakuin said.

They were scheduled to be considered for parole within the next four months and were expected to be released, Nakuin said. “Right now, I don’t have a clue why they did it. I suspect, and it’s just conjecture, that it was a spur of the moment thing.”

The last escape from Nelles officials occurred last year, he said. There are 859 teen-agers in the Whittier correctional facility.