Incarcerated Person Apprehended Hours After Walking Away from Centinela State Prison Minimum‑Support Facility

An incarcerated person who walked away from Centinela State Prison's Minimum-Support Facility (CEN-MSF) in Imperial County was apprehended hours later on Feb. 26, 2026.

CEN's Incident Command Post was notified that Darinel Escobar Perez was detained by the United States Border Patrol today in an area southwest of the institution. Escobar Perez was returned to CDCR custody and will be rehoused at a prison. His case will be referred to the Imperial County District Attorney's Office for consideration of escape charges.

Escobar Perez was received from Los Angeles County on Oct. 27, 2025. He was sentenced to two years for stalking. He has been housed at CEN-MSF in Imperial County since Feb. 23, 2026.

A minimum-support facility houses non-violent offenders outside of the secure perimeter of the main institution in a dorm environment. CEN opened in 1993 and houses approximately 3,100 incarcerated people. It is located near the town of Imperial in Southern California. CEN offers academic classes, vocational programs, rehabilitative programs, medical services and mental health treatment, religious services, work assignments and self-help groups, and employs approximately 1,250 people.

Since 1977, 99 percent of the incarcerated people who have escaped or walked away from an adult institution, camp, in-state contract bed or Community Rehabilitative Program Placement have been apprehended.

Darinel Escobar Perez