ADC: Escaped Arizona inmate Dyan Castorena arrested at casino

TOLLESON, AZ - A convicted criminal who escaped from her prison work program Friday was taken back into custody Thursday.

Arizona Department of Corrections said Dyan Castorena escaped from her off-site job at an auto auction business in Tolleson.

She reportedly walked off and then stole a car to make her get-away Friday.

Castorena was arrested just after 3 p.m. Thursday at Casino Arizona by the Salt River Pima Tribal Police.

Local law enforcement joined ADC’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the U.S. Marshal Service in the search for Castorena.

Castorena is a convicted thief and was serving her second prison sentence when she fled.

Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan said all prisoners pass a thorough risk assessment before being approved for community work. Castorena had passed and was not considered dangerous.

"They're convicted felons,” Ryan explained. “They're in prison for a reason. We are very confident in our classification system, but we have not mastered the ability to predict human behavior 100-percent of the time."
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Castorena has been housed since July 13, 2011 at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Perryville on a 1.5 year sentence out of Maricopa County for theft.

State prison officials say Castorena’s action was spontaneous.
"She only had a matter of months remaining to serve," Ryan said.

That is why Ryan said they did not see the escape coming.

There are more than 3,000 inmates in Arizona’s out-of-prison work programs. Ryan acknowledges there are some risks with letting out thousands of prison inmates to go work. There have been several escapes in the past few years, but Ryan says the benefits are worth it.