Woman Arrested After Walking Away From Los Angeles County Reentry Program

Woman Arrested After Walking Away From Los Angeles County Reentry Program
A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officer stands guard at the front gate of San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif., on June 29, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
City News Service
6/19/2023
Updated:
6/19/2023
0:00

LOS ANGELES—A 25-year-old woman who allegedly walked away from a state correctional reentry program in Los Angeles was back behind bars Monday and facing a possible escape charge.

Aleisha Schmitz was taken into custody without incident around 5:35 p.m. Saturday in North Hills, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

State officials said she walked away from the Custody to Community Transitional Reentry Program in Los Angeles County. It was unclear when she disappeared from the program.

After being recaptured, Schmitz was taken to the California Institution for Women, and her case will be referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of escape charges, according to the CDCR.

Schmitz was sent to state prison from Los Angeles County on July 7, 2022, according to CDCR. She was sentenced to three years behind bars for second-degree robbery and hit-and-run causing injury.

The reentry program allows eligible inmates to serve their sentence in the community, in lieu of confinement in state prison. According to the state, the program provides services that assist with alcohol and drug recovery, employment, education, housing, family reunification, and social support.

Since 1977, 99 percent of all incarcerated people who escaped from a prison, camp, or community-based program have been apprehended, according to CDCR.