A California prison inmate who broke free has been captured after four days on the lam, KTLA-TV reports.
Shalom Mendoza, 21, went missing Wednesday night from San Quentin State Prison. He reportedly was working outside of the facility’s secure perimeter.
Authorities on Saturday quashed Mendoza’s taste of freedom when they arrested him at a Taco Bell more than 200 miles away in Paso Robles, after getting a tip about his whereabouts. He was wearing dark-colored clothes instead of his prison garb at the time of his arrest, according to ABC.
Shalom Mendoza is back behind bars after escaping from the notorious San Quentin Prison on Wednesday. Mendoza was captured after someone recognized him at a Taco Bell in Paso Robles, California. pic.twitter.com/NZ8VL8DouN
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 30, 2018
A witness reported seeing Mendoza at a Dollar Store in San Miguel Friday afternoon where he reportedly bought the dark clothing.
Authorities suspect Mendoza carjacked a vehicle from a San Rafael Home Depot after fleeing the correctional facility. The Toyota Rav4 was discovered near the 101 Freeway on Friday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Mendoza allegedly threatened to shoot the driver if she did not let him use the vehicle, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
He could face charges of escaping the prison and carjacking.
After prison officials determined Mendoza was missing, which occurred in the course of a regular headcount, the prison initiated emergency protocols to locate him, Lt. Samuel Robinson of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Mendoza was placed in San Quentin in December 2017 on a five-year sentence for charges related to carjacking and evading police in Los Angeles County.
No one has attempted to break out of the prison since 2000 when three inmates attacked guards, but those inmates were later captured.
[Feature Photo: Shalom Mendoza/California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation]
