A murder suspect who was mistakenly released from a Los Angeles jail in January has been recaptured.
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Wright was originally arrested by the Pasadena Police Department in April 2011 and was pending trial for a gang-related murder in Pasadena earlier that year.
Sheriff’s detectives in Los Angeles County were tipped off on Monday that Steven Lawrence Wright might be hiding in a hotel in Boulder City and asked for help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police departments. No additional charges were expected to be filed.
Steven Lawrence Wright is seen in a bulletin provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The FBI responded to the hotel, and Wright was taken into custody without incident, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. However, he did say that there was a $20,000 reward, which was able to generate lots of tips regarding the location of Wright that came from the public.
It took authorities more than 24 hours to recognize the mistake.
“That was really the last one that was significant”, Swensson said last week.
A court clerk incorrectly wrote down the case number of Wright’s murder charge next to details of his sentence, according to officials, which resulted in him being mistakenly released. A judge said that the trial was unfair and Wright was scheduled for a preliminary hearing for the new murder trial this March.
Besides, he said, Wright already faces life in prison if convicted of the charges that put him behind bars. Wright will be returned to California after an extradition hearing.
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“We believe there should be an automated system between the court and the jail that would prevent human errors”, he said.
