Deputies Recapture Prisoner After Escape From Work Crew

MODJESKA — Sheriff’s deputies captured a prisoner about 20 minutes after he jumped a fence and sprinted from a work crew Monday morning, authorities said.

Cody Wayne Hildreth, 33, who was being held at the minimum security James A. Musick Branch Jail in Irvine, was arrested without incident shortly after noon, Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

Hildreth, a transient, was assigned to a work crew at Orange County Fire Station 16 on Modjeska Canyon Road, Olson said. He reportedly jumped over the fence at the station about 11:50 a.m.

Deputies went to the area and searched for him, Olson said. Hildreth was spotted crossing a creek bed and arrested.

Hildreth was transported to the Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana, where he was booked on a charge of felony escape. Westminster police arrested Hildreth June 2 on suspicion of drug possession and driving with a suspended license, Olson said. He was due to be released on July 5.

Hildreth’s escape from a work crew was the third by a Musick inmate in 10 days. On May 29, two inmates escaped from work crews in separate incidents, officials said.

David Orland Campbell, 30, escaped from a crew in Newport Beach along Jamboree Road, and two hours later Jose Hector Ruizgomez, 19, escaped from a crew at the Musick facility, officials said. Sheriff’s officials late Monday said they did not know if either man had been recaptured.

Hildreth will not be eligible to return to a minimum-security jail because of the escape charge, Olson said.