By Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES — A California man just released from county jail Friday morning was rearrested for possession of stolen property — his day-glow orange inmate jumpsuit.
Jerry Valentino Aldama, 26, of Colton allegedly stole the jumpsuit when he was released from the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga early Friday. Then, for reasons that mystify police, he slipped into the jail garb before boarding an eastbound bus outside the jail.
Thinking Aldama was on the lam, the Omnitrans bus driver alerted his dispatcher, who in turn called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
“What really caused the driver to panic was when the gentlemen kept asking them how much it was to ride, and kept dropping his money,” said Omnitrans spokeswoman Janice Kuhn. “The guy was acting really nervous.”
Once the call came in, the jail was put on lockdown and, thinking there was an escapee on the loose, a headcount began, said Sgt. Frank Montanez.
Deputies immediately began tailing the bus, pulling it over in Fontana. Aldama, who was picked up the night before on a warrant for a shoplifting charge, was taken into custody without incident, Montanez said.
