Inmate Pleads Not Guilty To Felony Escape Charge

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — An inmate who spent more than three weeks on the run after allegedly walking out of a downtown jail last month pleaded not guilty to a felony count of escape Monday.

Thirty-seven-year-old Christopher Lee Brown, the subject of a $20,000 reward, was recaptured by Santa Monica police last Wednesday after he was seen outside the Pico Youth and Family Center near Pico and Lincoln boulevards.

According to the L.A. District Attorney's Office, Brown escaped the Inmate Reception Center on March 12, hours after he was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail for stealing computer equipment from an Alhambra medical center.

He was convicted of two counts of second-degree commercial burglary and one count of receiving stolen property.

According to prosecutors, Brown posed as another inmate shortly after his sentencing and walked out of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

He faces up to three years in jail if convicted on the latest charge.