Prisoner who escaped in Southern California nabbed in Reno

RENO, Nev. - A convicted murder who escaped March 25 in Southern California was tracked down by police and arrested here Friday.

A Reno Police Department spokesman said officers had been on the lookout for James Prestridge, and stopped him at gunpoint as he walked down a street. He put up no resistance.

Sheriff's deputies said several sightings of James Keith Prestridge, 38, have been recorded in the Carson City and Minden areas. Prestridge lived in Carson City until the 11th grade.

Prestridge, 39, and convicted robber John Doran escaped by overpowering two guards employed by a transport company that moves inmates between states. Then they drove the Extraditions International van around before abandoning it.

Doran, 29, was found dead south of Tijuana a few days after the escape.

Prestridge, who was serving a life sentence for the 1989 murder of a Reno pizza parlor employee, was being transported to a North Dakota prison under a prisoner exchange agreement.

Doran, who was serving 12 years for a Clark County robbery, was on his way to Colorado to face other charges.

After the escape, Nevada prison officials stopped using the transport company, which has been in business at least a decade and moves thousands of prisoners each year in all 50 states.

Like most states, Nevada transports inmates within the state but uses a private company to move inmates out of state.