SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Sheriff's deputies had spotted a man walking barefoot down a New Mexico road with his feet full of cactus, so they offered him a ride.
Turns out, the man had escaped from the state penitentiary by walking out the front door. So instead of a homeless shelter, the deputies put him back behind bars.
The deputies found 30-year-old Raymond Lopez to be the runaway inmate pictured in manhunt flyers.
Lopez has been booked at the county jail on charges of escape and concealing identity.
Lopez told deputies after he had been caught that he found civilian clothes in a "shakedown cell." He put them on and walked out the unlocked front door.
Penitentiary spokesman S.U. Mahesh says a review of procedures will take place and whatever changes necessary for safety will be made.
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This story has been corrected to show the inmate's last name is Lopez.
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