Search For Escaped Prison Inmate Ends In Riverside County

HEMET, CA — The 24-hour search for an inmate who fled a prison camp in Hemet has ended after he turned himself in.

Jonathon Haines, 33, returned to the minimum-security Bautista Conservation Camp at approximately 11:40 p.m. Thursday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

It's not clear where the Haines went or whether someone helped him slip away. He is being transported to Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown, Calif., and his case is being referred to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of escape charges, the CDCR reported.

Haines fled the minimum-security prison camp sometime around 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to the state agency.

He was sentenced to state prison from Riverside County on June 28, 2013, with a 17-year, four-month sentence for second-degree robbery with use of a firearm as a second-striker, receiving stolen property, evading or attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly, and buying/receiving stolen vehicle/trailer/construction equipment as a second striker. He was scheduled for parole in October 2023, according to the CDCR.

CDCR's Office of Correctional Safety, Cal Fire, the California Highway Patrol, and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department assisted in the search for Haines.