LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said a jail inmate who escaped from the Lake County Jail on Thursday morning was taken back into custody by a sheriff’s captain a short time later.
Gary Lee Gard, 63, of Kelseyville was captured near the jail, said Lt. Rich Ward.
Ward said Gard was serving a sentence for misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine.
The investigation determined that at 7:51 a.m. Thursday, Gard walked away from his work assignment in the jail kitchen, Ward said.
Ward said Gard was then seen on surveillance cameras running and throwing away his jail uniform.
As Gard ran away from the jail, sheriff’s Capt. Norm Taylor was driving in the same area of Hill Road, Ward said.
Taylor recognized the white jail uniform pants Gard was wearing. Ward said when Gard saw Taylor he turned and ran up an embankment, which led to a freeway overpass for Highway 29.
Ward said Taylor stopped and gave Gard verbal commands to stop. Gard surrendered without further incident.
Gard’s online booking record shows that he is now facing a felony charge of escaping the jail while charged with a misdemeanor.
There has not been another escape from the Lake County Jail since 2013, Ward said.