SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Authorities are searching for a prison inmate who walked away from a local facility Thursday morning.
State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials said 27-year-old Israel Hernandez left the Male Community Re-Entry Program on Boston Avenue near South 27th Street early Thursday morning.
CDCR officials said a search was launched after they were notified at about 4:20 a.m. that Hernandez's GPS device had been tampered with. Hernandez was seen by facility staff exiting the building through a back door. His GPS device was found in a nearby parking lot.
Hernandez is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 207 pounds.
Officials said Hernandez "was received by CDCR from San Diego County in November 2016 with a two-year eight-month sentence for vehicle theft as a second striker. Hernandez was transferred to the MCRP in San Diego in March. He was scheduled to be released to probation in March 2018."
Anyone who has seen Hernandez or has any information on his whereabouts is urged to call 911 or contact law enforcement.
Information on the Male Community Re-Entry Program:
The MCRP allows eligible offenders committed to state prison to serve the end of their sentences in the re-entry center and provides them the programs and tools necessary to transition from custody to the community. It is a voluntary program for male offenders who have approximately one year left to serve. The program links offenders to a range of community-based rehabilitative services that assist with substance use disorders, mental health care, medical care, employment, education, housing, family reunification and social support.
Since 1977, 99 percent of all offenders who have left an adult institution, camp, or community-based program without permission have been apprehended.
