Calif. inmate who escaped prison camp nearly 13 years ago finally caught in NYC

Eduardo Hernandez was arrested in May after 13 years on the run. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation

He had a good run.

A California inmate who escaped a prison camp almost 13 years ago was finally recaptured in the Big Apple last month, officials recently revealed.

Eduardo Hernandez, 42, was in the middle of his prison term for an armed carjacking when he broke out of the Delta Conservation Camp before dawn on Nov. 15, 2011, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Hernandez was taken into custody after more than a decade without incident in New York City on May 20, and is expected to be hauled back to California where he will once again land in prison, corrections officials said.

More details about his arrest were not provided by California officials and an email to the NYPD was not immediately returned Sunday night.

He escaped from the Delta Conservation Camp in 2011. Google maps

Hernandez’s case will be turned over to the Solano County District Attorney’s Office for possible escape charges.

The fugitive initially started a 13-year prison rap on Aug. 4, 2005 and had served six years before his escape.

He and another inmate were last seen at around 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2011 at the minimum security Delta Conservation Camp in Suisun City wearing orange blaze-colored jeans and shirts with “CDCR prisoner” across the back, CBS News Sacramento reported at the time.

The inmate who escaped with him, Jose Padilla, is still on the lam, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The prison camp where Hernandez was serving time is jointly operated by the corrections department and the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“The primary mission of the camp is to provide incarcerated fire crews for fire suppression in the Sonoma, Lake, Napa Unit and Solano County areas,” the state’s corrections department stated.

“However, crews can be dispatched throughout the state. In addition to fire suppression, incarcerated hand crews provide a workforce for conservation projects.”

Corrections officials said since 1977, 99% of inmates who “left an adult institution, camp, or community-based program without permission have been apprehended.”