Another inmate released early last week due to overcrowding at San Sebastián Preventive Prison, south of the capital, was sent back to jail on Wednesday after being arrested on suspicion of committing robbery.
The suspect, with the last names Calderón Prado, aka “Chucky,” was arrested at a minimum security prison in Guadalupe, northeast of San José, where he was supposed to spend one night a week as part of the conditions established for his early release.
Calderón left San Sebastián on Oct. 23, and on Sunday – four days later – he allegedly assaulted a Nicaraguan man in the capital’s Central Park, stealing his wallet and cellphone.
During the struggle, Calderón dropped his own wallet, which allowed police to identify him.
Calderón was serving a six-month preventive prison sentence on charges of robbery and had a previous three-year sentence for aggravated robbery in an earlier case.
Judicial Investigation Police arrested him as soon as he arrived at the Guadalupe prison.
The early release of 331 inmates selected by Costa Rica’s National Institute of Criminology (INC) from various Costa Rican prisons sparked controversy in Costa Rica, as most of prisoners – 240 – were convicted of aggravated assaults.
Officials from the country’s prison system were forced to relocate or release at least 370 inmates from various prisons throughout the country following a ruling by San José judge Roy Murillo that aimed to reduce overcrowding in San Sebastián.
On Monday, another prisoner released early from San Sebastián last week was arrested as a suspect in the murder of a restaurant owner in Puntarenas.
