Police in California are investigating how a prison inmate serving a life sentence found himself out in the free world for 13 hours before being apprehended and returned behind bars.
Shaquille Lash, 28, is a reported gang member from San Joaquin County. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, he was accidentally released Wednesday by prison staffers in what was an apparent mix-up.
Lash is serving life in prison for carjacking, second-degree robbery with enhancements for committing a street-gang act, firearm possession and vehicle theft—all with the possibility of parole.
Inmate records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) show that Lash entered prison on May 14, 2013, and is currently being held in California State Prison in Solano. He has a July 2025 consultation date with the state's parole board, with a parole eligibility date of July 2030.
Sergeant Rod Grassman held a press conference Thursday detailing the events that led to the mistake.
FOX 40 reported that Grassman said Lash was released from prison prior to 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and was taken into custody again at about 1 p.m. Thursday when officials from the sheriff's office, local detectives and officers from the CDCR located the suspect in Stockton.
"We believe and are investigating that a human error on the day shift was made during the booking process that made it appear to the night shift that Mr. Lash was eligible for release," Grassmann said. "We will be investigating if there was a procedural failure, human error, or a combination of both. Once we determine that, we will address each area."
Grassman added that although the incident was "unsettling," according to the California Globe, it appears that no further crimes were committed by Lash while he was away from custody.
The publication added that after Lash was sent to prison, he allegedly became one of several prisoners to participate in a $31 billion defrauding of the Employment Development Department in 2020 and 2021 in relation to unemployment claims made during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lash was originally admitted to Tehachapi State Prison, Grassman said.
A Wider Discussion About Prisons
A similar incident occurred in California in April when officials from the CDCR and United States Marshals apprehended Jonah Ledesma, who reportedly left the Male Community Reentry Program facility in San Diego without authorization.
While Michael Patton, a former prison guard-turned security consultant in the San Joaquin Valley, told the California Globe that smaller budgets and reduced prison sentences lead to situations like that of Lash, others disagree.
The advocacy group Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) have argued that CDCR is a "money pit," pointing to California Governor Gavin Newsom's revised 2021-22 budget released in May, which showed total funding of approximately $13.6 billion.
"Despite plans for prison closure and historically low prison populations, California is failing to end its addiction to prison spending...Instead of closing more prisons, the Legislature and governor's administration continue to receive more requests from CDCR to increase the corrections budget by billions of dollars for infrastructure repairs and expansion projects," CURB stated.
However, the group has credited the Newsom administration for "making good" on multiple prison closure promises.
The Public Policy Institute of California reported that since 2017, California's prison population has been at about 115,000 inmates—which is below the Supreme Court-mandated target of 137.5 percent of design capacity, or the amount of prisoners facilities were constructed to house.
A total of 13 of 35 state-owned facilities were said to operate beyond that capacity.
In January of this year, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that violent felons cannot be considered for early release. That goes for felons whose primary offense was nonviolent.
Earlier this week, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled by city voters. It has stirred further conversation about policies and crime reduction not just locally but nationally.
A spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office told Newsweek that no further information is available regarding Lash's release, confirming that an investigation is being conducted.
Uncommon Knowledge
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