SAN MARINO (CNS) – Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was located safe early Monday about eight hours after he apparently wandered away from his San Marino home, authorities said.
San Marino Police Department Chief John Incontro told reporters at about 1 a.m. Monday that Baca was found in an El Monte restaurant and identified with the help of a bracelet he wears.
Baca suffered no injuries, and Incontro said, “He seemed to be in good spirits.”
Baca, 82, served as Los Angeles County Sheriff from 1998 to 2014.
ABC7 reported Baca has Alzheimer’s disease, according to what his attorneys stated in 2016 before his conviction for obstructing an FBI investigation into abuse in county jails. Baca served about two years of a three-year sentence in federal prison.
The San Marino Police Department headed the search for Baca, LASD Deputy V. Rodriguez told City News Service.
According to the SMPD, officers responded Sunday afternoon to a call of a “critical missing person.”
“The caller mentioned that Leroy David Baca, a relative, had left his residence in San Marino … at 4:38 p.m.,” San Marino police said in a statement on Monday.
“Mr. Baca, who has dementia … was last seen walking north on Virginia Road towards Huntington Drive,” the police statement said. “An extensive search for Mr. Baca took place with assistance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Missing Person’s Unit, Pasadena Police Department Air Support, Arcadia Police Department K-9 and Claremont Police Department K-9.
“On July 15, 2024, at approximately 12:34 a.m., the diligent search efforts paid off as Mr. Baca was found safe and in good health in the City of El Monte,” the statement said. “He was promptly returned to his residence and reunited with his family.”
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