Escaped California Inmate Captured at Coyote Valley Casino

Posted on: May 6, 2025, 03:17h. 

Last updated on: May 6, 2025, 03:17h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Inmate Donovan Bacon escaped from low security prison camp early Sunday morning
  • Arrested four hours later at the Coyote Valley Casino, 38 miles away
  • Bacon was serving a six-year sentence for armed robbery with a weapon enhancement

Luck ran out for a convicted armed robber who escaped from a California prison on Sunday and headed straight to a casino.

Donovan Bacon, California prison escape, casino arrest, Coyote Valley Casino, Parlin Fork Conservation Camp, inmate escape, CDCR, California inmate captured
Donovan Bacon, mugshot top right, was convicted of armed robbery in 2023. He was apprehended at the Coyote Valley Casino in Northern California, four hours after walking out of a minimum-security prison camp. (Image: Coyote Valley Casino/CDCR)

Donovan Bacon, 36, was apprehended Sunday by special agents with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) at the Coyote Valley Casino in Mendocino County.

Four hours earlier, he disappeared from the Parlin Fork Conservation Camp #6 in Jackson State Demonstration Forest. The camp is a minimum-security prison facility near Fort Bragg, Calif., that trains and deploys inmates as part of firefighting crews, supporting Cal Fire and local agencies during emergencies.

At around 7:30am, Bacon was somehow able to slip out of the camp unnoticed, authorities said.

Armed Robbery

In 2003, Bacon was sentenced to six years in prison for second-degree robbery with an enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. He spent a year in prison in San Bernardino County before being moved to the camp in February.

Bacon managed to travel 38 miles west of the camp to the Coyote Valley Casino, on the Coyote Valley Pomo Reservation.

It’s not clear why the fugitive would choose to hide in a casino, since they’re among the most heavily surveilled properties in the country – although it’s not uncommon for convicts to end up at a nearby gaming venue when they go on the lam.

Perhaps they feel that blending into a large crowd might help them avoid detection, and they might be looking to pilfer food or cash. Or maybe they sense their chances of being recaptured are high and just want to have some fun while they’re on the run.

Cross-Country Crime Spree

In 2012, James Misleveck and James Newman broke out of the Black River Correctional Center in Jackson County, Wis. During their escape, they took a shotgun and forced a woman into their vehicle at gunpoint. After several hours of driving around with her, they let her go, discarded the firearm, and fled in another stolen car.

They embarked on a cross-county crime spree, eventually making their way to sunny Florida, where they were captured after being spotted at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood.

Newman had originally been imprisoned for weapons charges and sexual assault, while Misleveck had been convicted of burglary, theft. and arson. Incredibly, at the time of their escape, Newman had just six months left of his sentence and Misleveck was scheduled to be released in 30 days.

The pair received an additional 15 years each.