SAN DIEGO – A man who walked away from the Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP) in San Diego on Jan. 21 was apprehended today.
Following investigative leads, agents from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Office of Correctional Safety located Steven Vargas, 53, in a parking lot in San Diego’s Sports Arena area. He was arrested and taken into custody without incident. Vargas was transported to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
Vargas was given permission to leave the facility on Tuesday morning, but did not return when he was required.
Vargas was received from San Diego County May 6, 2019 with a four-year sentence for vehicle theft with prior vehicle related theft convictions and grand theft firearm. Vargas was transferred from the California Institution for Men to the MCRP Jan. 6, 2020. He was scheduled to be released to parole supervision in June 2020.
The MCRP allows eligible offenders committed to state prison to serve the end of their sentences in the re-entry center and provides them the programs and tools necessary to transition from custody to the community. It is a voluntary program for male offenders who have approximately one year left to serve. The program links offenders to a range of community-based rehabilitative services that assist with substance use disorders, mental health care, medical care, employment, education, housing, family reunification and social support. Since 1977, 99 percent of all offenders who have left an adult institution, camp, or community-based program without permission have been apprehended.
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