Inmate found 8 hours after leaving work crew

A jail inmate who walked away from a road work crew was arrested eight hours later, authorities said Tuesday.

Saul Dimla, 28, was spotted about 8 p.m. Monday driving a friend’s vehicle in Orange. The inmate, who had dyed his hair blond and changed his clothes, was arrested without a struggle, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The hunt began early Monday, after he disappeared from a James A. Musick Branch Jail crew working on a flood control channel in Brea.

Serving time for writing a bad check and a drug violation, Dimla had been scheduled for release in three months but now faces up to five more years in prison on charges of felony escape, Amormino said.