SANTA ANA – A Chilean national who escaped from a state prison fire camp in Los Angeles County on Sunday while serving time for his role in an Orange County burglary and police pursuit that left an innocent driver seriously injured was recaptured Thursday evening with the assistance of investigators from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Alejandro Tobarfuentes, 33, was arrested Thursday evening in the city of Mecca, California in Riverside County by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Office of Correctional Safety, Special Agents acting on information from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. He has been transferred to the California Institution for Men in Chino.
Alejandro Tobarfuentes and his partner Jorge Navarretecorvalan were arrested on Saturday, June 8, 2024, after crashing their Mini Cooper head-on into a Toyota Camry while driving northbound in the southbound lanes after narrowly missing hitting an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy who had tried to pull their vehicle over. The driver suffered serious injuries.
Just before the June 2024 head-on collision, Tobarfuentes and Navarretecorvalan are accused of working together to break into a San Juan Capistrano home to steal a safe, designer handbags, and jewelry. When the two men were arrested, they identified themselves using Venezuelan identification cards which law enforcement determined were fake and they were in fact Chilean nationals.
Navarretecorvalan has been charged with one felony count of first-degree burglary, one felony count of evading a peace officer while driving opposite of traffic, one felony count of driving the wrong way on a divided highway causing injury or death, and one felony count of possession of a forged identification card. Tobarfuentes plead guilty in April to one felony count of first-degree burglary, one felony count of possession of a forged identification card, and one misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools. He was sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison and was taken into CDCR custody in May. Navarretecorvalan is awaiting trial.
On Sunday, November 9, 2025, Tobarfuentes walked away from the Francisquito Conservation Camp in Los Angeles County, prompting a manhunt for the missing prisoner.
According to a CDCR press release, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Tobarfuentes was discovered missing from the camp. Staff immediately initiated an emergency count, confirming Tobarfuentes was not at the camp, and launched a manhunt for the missing prisoner.
As soon as the Orange County District Attorney’s Office was made aware of Tobarfuentes’ escape, OCDA investigators contacted CDCR’s Office of Correctional safety to provide critical intelligence assistance to assist in locating the escapee.
Tobarfuentes and Navarretecorvalan entered the United States through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization System (ESTA) Visa Waiver Program which is administered through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For $21, applicants from countries which participate in the ESTA program can be granted unlimited access to the United States, up to 90 days at a time, for a two-year period. Applicants are granted access within 72 hours of applying for an ESTA visa waiver. For years, Chile refused to provide the criminal background checks for their residents as required by the ESTA program requirements. In 2022, 350,000 Chilean nationals entered the United States through the ESTA visa waiver program without background checks.
In May 2023, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer began sounding the alarm regarding the loophole in the ESTA visa program which continues to be exploited by organized crime rings in Chile to enter the United States to commit residential burglaries throughout the United States.
“Crimefighting is no longer a fight against the criminals,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “We are fighting the dangerous policies that have allowed organized criminal rings from Chile to exploit a loophole in the Department of Homeland Security’s ESTA visa waiver program that has resulted in a direct pipeline for thieves coming into the United States to steal and on the other front we are fighting the reckless policies promoted by Governor Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature that allow for endless opportunities for dangerous criminals to escape accountability while leaving the victims to suffer in silence. My office will literally go to the end of the earth to ensure justice is done and accountability is enforced, and if it means my investigators are tracking down prison escapees because CDCR let them walk away, we will continue to do it because we will stop at nothing to protect public safety.”
Here are the penalties the suspects face based on the charges described:
- Alejandro Tobarfuentes
- Pleaded guilty to:
- One felony count of first-degree burglary
- One felony count of possession of a forged identification card
- One misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools
- Sentence: 4 years and 8 months in state prison (already imposed)
- Pleaded guilty to:
- Jorge Navarretecorvalan (awaiting trial)
- Charged with:
- One felony count of first-degree burglary
- One felony count of evading a peace officer while driving opposite of traffic
- One felony count of driving the wrong way on a divided highway causing injury or death
- One felony count of possession of a forged identification card
- Potential penalties: Each felony can carry several years in state prison; combined, this could result in a lengthy sentence, especially due to the injury caused in the wrong-way crash.
- Charged with: