Inmate who walked away last week recaptured
An inmate who walked away last week from the Pioche Conservation Camp in Lincoln County, north of Clark County, was found and recaptured Friday without incident.
"He was suffering hypothermia and was too tired and hungry to put up a fight," Sheriff Kerry Lee said.
The Nevada Corrections Department realized Sony Perez, 34, was missing from the camp around 5 p.m. Jan. 1. He was serving time for grand larceny of a motor vehicle — a sentence that started Oct. 21, 2014, and was supposed to last anywhere from 24 to 60 months.
But since his escape and recapture, corrections department spokeswoman Brooke Keast said his sentence will be affected. She said the exact length would depend, but noted, "The laws are strong and they can get significant time for an escape."
Keast also said Perez will not be eligible to to go to a camp again.
Lincoln County sheriff deputies and a BLM ranger took Perez into custody about 3 miles north of Caliente, off U.S. Highway 93. Officials were tipped off to his location around 11:30 a.m. by an area resident who, Sheriff Lee said, knew about the escape and was driving on the highway, saw Perez cross the road and circled back to confront him.
With deputies on the way, Perez told the driver he was walking alone because he and his girlfriend had been in a fight but soon admitted he was the escaped inmate.
Lee said Perez was transported to the Grover C. Dils Medical Center in Caliente for treatment. After, he will be booked into the Lincoln County Detention Center before being transferred back to corrections.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby.
