Escaped Inmate Caught In San Fernando Valley Motel

LOS ANGELES, CA — A prisoner who walked away from an inmate firefighting crew that was helping to battle the Canyon Fire 2 near Peters Canyon Regional Park in Orange on Oct. 15 was back in custody Wednesday, authorities said.

Armando Castillo, 31, was taken into custody Tuesday night in the San Fernando Valley, said Krissi Khokhobashvili of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Castillo was part of the inmate crews fighting the fire, and last had been seen before the crews returned to Prado Conservation Camp in San Bernardino County.

CDCR personnel found Castillo about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday at a motel and transported him to the California Institution for Men in Chino.

Daisy Castro, who was with Castillo at the motel, was arrested on suspicion of assisting him in his escape, Khokhobashvili said.

City News Service; Photo: Inmate firefighters cut down trees along the Highway (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)