Sammy Oquinn. Courtesy the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Sammy Oquinn. Courtesy the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

A 52-year-old inmate who walked away from a halfway house in Long Beach was taken into custody Tuesday night in downtown Los Angeles.

Sammy Oquinn was located at 8:45 p.m. by Special Service Unit and Los Angeles Fugitive Apprehension Team agents a day after he left a Male Community Reentry Program facility in Long Beach, according to Vicky Waters of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The exact location where Oquinn was found was not disclosed.

Sammy Oquinn. Courtesy the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Sammy Oquinn. Courtesy the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Oquinn had been at the Long Beach facility since mid-March to finish a three-year sentence for drug convictions when he walked away Monday night without authorization, Waters said.

“The MCRP allows eligible offenders committed to state prison to serve the end of their sentences in the reentry center and provides them the programs and tools necessary to transition from custody to the community,” Waters said. The program is voluntary for men with a year left on their sentence.

Oquinn will be taken to California Institution for Men in Chino and his case will be referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of escape charges.