Inmate who walked away from conservation camp apprehended in Southern California

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – An inmate who walked away from Konocti Conservation Camp on Friday has been taken into custody.

James Bellino, 37, a minimum-security inmate from the California Correctional Center, had last been seen on Friday evening and later found to be missing during a nighttime count, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or CDCR.

Bellino's disappearance resulted in a multiagency search in Lake County, state officials reported.

Then, on Sunday evening, members of the Special Service Unit and Fugitive Apprehension Team apprehended Bellino in Los Angeles, CDCR said in a Sunday night report.

The agency said further details surrounding the arrest were not available late Sunday.

Bellino – who had been assigned to an inmate firefighting crew at Konocti Conservation Camp – had been committed to the CDCR on Sept. 13, 2013, from Kern County for a second strike offense of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, and criminal threat to cause great bodily injury or death, officials said.

He previously had been scheduled for release in July 2016, according to CDCR.

CDCR said Bellino will be transported back to the California Correctional Center in Susanville and will not be eligible to be rehoused in a conservation camp.