Angelo Atencio is now back in custody after he escaped from the Lassen County Jail on December 1st, 2022. Deputies and Detectives from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office have been working around the clock in what was essentially an “all hands on deck manhunt” for escaped Inmate Angelo Atencio.
The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office investigated several leads, which lead to the service of several search warrants, building searches, and citizen contacts in attempt to locate Atencio.
On Tuesday evening, December 6th, 2022 at about 2000 hours, Detectives from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office received information that Atencio was currently hiding at a residence near Winnemucca, Nevada.
Lassen County Detectives had already been in contact with Deputies from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada through-out this investigation. Upon determining the high probability of Atencio’s whereabouts on Tuesday night, LCSO Detectives immediately notified the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and provided them with the address of where Atencio was believed to be.
Deputies from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office surrounded the residence and were able to confirm that Atencio and his girlfriend, Ashly Ward, were inside. Atencio and Ward refused to exit the residence and a standoff ensued. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team was deployed. At approximately 0100 hours on December 7th, 2022, both Atencio and Ward were taken into custody. Details regarding the arrests of Atencio and Ward will be released by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. We will share their press release on our Facebook page when it becomes available.
The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office summoned the assistance of several outside agencies through-out the course of this investigation. We would personally like to thank the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Fugitive Apprehension Team, CDCR High Desert ISU Team, FBI Reno RA Safe Streets Task Force, FBI Sacramento Safe Streets Task Force, FBI Sacramento and Las Vegas, The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada, The Lassen County District Attorney’s Office, and the Lassen County Crime-stoppers.
Details on Atencio’s escape and remedial measures taken by the Lassen County Jail will be released in the next day or two.
Captain Mike Carney
Operations Division Commander
Lassen County Sheriff’s Office
