SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA / A news summary : The Regional Review / DEVELOPMENTS IN ORANGE, RIVERSIDE, SAN BERNARDINO AND VENTURA COUNTIES : Accidental Release of Inmate Prompts Review

Corrections officials announced Tuesday that they are examining jail procedures and considering disciplinary action against jail deputies after an inmate was mistakenly released this week.

It was the second time in 12 months that an inmate has walked away from custody because of employee error.

“We have a number of checks and balances in place to prevent errant releases,” said Cmdr. Mark Ball, who oversees the pre-sentence facility at the County Government Center. “But we need to find out why they failed, what needs to be changed and what others need to be put in place.”

The inmate was recaptured Tuesday after calling authorities from his mother’s North Hollywood home to turn himself in.

The inmate, Ruben M. Sifuentes, was arrested during a traffic stop Sunday, Ball said. Authorities discovered Sifuentes was driving without a license and had an outstanding warrant in North Hollywood for failing to appear in court on a previous traffic violation.

Deputies from the jail were preparing to transfer Sifuentes to Los Angeles County when he somehow mixed in with a group of inmates about to be released, authorities said.

Sifuentes was dressed in street clothes at the time, which is standard procedure for an inmate about to be transferred, said Eric Nishimoto, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department.

Sifuentes’ release came several months after another inmate was mistakenly let go. In that incident, two men with the same name but different birth dates were in custody at the same time. A paperwork error allowed the wrong inmate to leave, Ball said.

The inmate, who authorities said was jailed for a nonviolent offense, was recaptured hours later. Because of that mistake, all jail supervisors are required to review an inmate’s paperwork and personally approve their release, Ball said.