Burglar Who Escaped From Jail Recaptured
A convicted burglar who escaped in January from a county jail in Castaic was recaptured Sunday when an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy recognized him on an East Los Angeles street.
Lorenzo Lorta, 37, of Bell Gardens was arrested without incident about 2 p.m. after the alert deputy recognized him and trailed him to Olympic Boulevard and Indiana Street, Deputy George Ducoulombier said.
Lorta, who was awaiting sentencing on a burglary conviction, pushed his way past a deputy who had opened a security gate aboard a bus that was to take him and several other prisoners to the county courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. Lorta escaped into the hills surrounding the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho Jan. 15.
Deputies initially believed that Lorta had fled to Mexico, but he had been spotted recently in East Los Angeles, Ducoulombier said.
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