Second-strike inmate who walked away from CDCR camp located hundreds of miles away

A man who walked away from a conservation camp in Inyo County Tuesday morning was apprehended more than 350 miles from the facility, corrections officials said.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Ashiel Bahar was discovered missing from the Owens Valley Conservation Camp at 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Staff immediately launched a search of the camp buildings and grounds, officials said, but they were unable to find him. After he walked away, the CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety, Cal Fire and local law enforcement agencies were all deployed to search for Bahar.

Just over a day after he originally walked away from the camp, the 37-year-old second-striker was found in San Diego at 8:10 a.m. Wednesday, CDCR stated.

While the exact location in San Diego was not released, navigation system data indicates that it would take over six hours to drive from the Owens Valley camp – near the city of Bishop – to downtown San Diego.

How Bahar was able to get to San Diego and the circumstances surrounding his apprehension are not known.

The 37-year-old was sent to the camp from San Diego County on Nov. 1, 2023, to serve a four-year sentence for first-degree burglary, using the ID of another person to obtain personal identifying information, grand theft firearm, grand theft exceeding $950, and evading or attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly, according to CDCR.

Owens Valley Conservation Camp is jointly operated by the CDCR and Cal Fire, according to the corrections department’s website .

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