Inmate escapes from mountain work camp in LA County

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Authorities are looking for an inmate who walked away from a work camp in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Eric Levi, 52, was discovered missing during an inmate count at the Fenner Canyon Conservation Camp at 5:48 p.m. Sunday. The camp is in the mountains to the northwest of Wrightwood. Levi was last seen during a 5:10 p.m. count.

Staff searched the camp grounds and the immediate area but were unable to locate Levi.

He is described as 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 217 pounds, with hazel eyes and gray hair.

He was serving a 16-year sentence for second-degree robbery that began in November 2006.

Anyone who spots Levi is advised to call 911.

The Fenner Canyon camp houses up to 136 minimum-security inmates and its primary mission is to train them for firefighting duties on inmate crews.

The state says 99 percent of the offenders who have walked away from similar facilities have been caught.