Laguna Beach : Prisoner Walks Away From His Work Detail
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Sheriff’s deputies are searching for a prisoner who walked away from a work detail on a Laguna Beach hillside, Lt. Richard J. Olson said Thursday.
The prisoner, Rocky L. Powell, 25, was clearing brush Wednesday afternoon with other minimum-security inmates under the supervision of the County Fire Department when he escaped, Olson said. Powell had been held at James A. Musick Branch Jail in Irvine.
A spokesman for the Fire Department said that usually six or seven inmates work in a crew, supervised by one firefighter.
The prisoners are not considered dangerous, Capt. Hank Raymond said, adding: “This is just one incident where one guy saw an opportunity and took off.”
When Powell was discovered missing, deputies on the ground and in a helicopter searched the area near Top of the World Drive and Top Lane in Newport Beach where the crew was working, Olson said.
Powell also goes by the name of Mark W. Sanders. He was serving time for misdemeanor auto theft, receiving stolen property and using a false identification, Olson added.
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