October 23, 2023 - BAKERSFIELD – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials announced an incarcerated person who had walked away from the Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP) in Kern County on Thursday, October 19, 2023, was taken into custody the same day.

At approximately 5:40 p.m., Demetrius Branson, 50, was arrested without incident by Special Agents assigned to CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety in the city of Bakersfield. Branson was transported to North Kern State Prison and his case will be referred to the Kern County District Attorney for consideration of escape charges.

Branson was admitted from Kern County on April 24, 2023, to serve a four-year, eight-month, sentence for corporal injury on specific persons resulting in traumatic condition, grand theft exceeding $950, vehicle theft, and failure to appear.

The MCRP allows eligible people 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 incarcerated men 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 people who have left an adult institution, camp, or community-based program without permission have been apprehended.

Source & photo: CDCR