Inmate mistakenly released from LA jail is caught in Boulder City

Las Vegas police have arrested a 37-year-old man charged with murder after he was mistakenly let out of a Los Angeles County jail because of a paperwork mix-up.

Steven Lawrence Wright, 37, was arrested in 2011 in connection with a killing in Pasadena, California, but was in court last week for a contempt of court charge that resulted in a five-day sentence.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's office released Wright at 1 p.m. Saturday after he was transferred from court to jail with paperwork that had his court case and charge numbers "mixed up," said sheriff's office Commander Keith Swensson.

According to Swensson, a court clerk sent Wright back to the sheriff's department with paperwork that said his sentence had been served and he was due for release Saturday.

The error should have been caught by one of three people who saw the paperwork at the sheriff's office, Swensson said.

Aside from the contempt of court charge, Wright was being held at the Los Angeles county jail on charges of attempted murder and murder. He is awaiting sentencing on the attempted murder charge and has not gone to trial for the murder charge, Swensson said.

The sheriff's staff realized the mistake Sunday night when the department received a call from the district attorney's office asking if Wright was still in custody.

The DA's office didn't say why they called, Swensson said.

Sheriff's office detectives alerted the FBI that Wright was possibly headed to Las Vegas, and he was arrested at 11:45 a.m. Monday as he was leaving a hotel room in Boulder City.

A Boulder City spokesman Monday afternoon confirmed a fugitive was captured there, but he said Metro and the FBI were the lead agencies in Wright's arrest.

"Wright will be held in a Nevada custody facility, pending an extradition hearing," the sheriff's office wrote in a release.

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber