By SDCN Editor
Escondido, CA–A 32-year-old wanted felon who had a felony no-bail warrant for a probation violation was arrested May 7 in Escondido, authorities said.
Escondido police observed Craig Blas, of Escondido in the parking lot of 1333 East Grand Avenue. Upon seeing the officers, Blas ran from them. He threw something into a nearby car before running. Officers located him and took him into custody, according to Escondido police.
Officers discovered an unserialized handgun, aka ghost gun, 35.85 grams of methamphetamine, 235 fentanyl pills, 3.56 grams of powder fentanyl, a loaded magazine, and $738 in cash, a digital scale, and baggies consistent with the kind used to package illegal narcotics in his car.
Based on the cash, quantity of drugs, scale, and baggies, Blas was charged with suspicion of selling narcotics, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and resisting arrest for fleeing. He is currently on Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) probation and County felony probation.
The PRCS Act is a result of the passage of Propositions 47 and 57. This means that offenders released from prison shall only be released to parole if they most recently served time for serious or violent felonies, were serving a life term, are a high-risk sex offender, or are a mentally disordered offender.
“Thanks to the diligent effort of the officers, a dangerous felon has once again been put in jail and his guns and drugs will be kept out of the hands of criminals and off the streets,” Escondido Police Chief Varso said.
Blas was previously arrested for possession of an assault rifle, and short-barreled shotgun in 2017 and 2018. He was released on parole in 2019 after being released from prison for drug and gun charges. Since his release in 2019, Blas has been arrested numerous times on parole holds and a variety of other charges. In 2020, he was arrested seven times for drug possession, weapons possession, and fleeing from police as well as parole holds. In 2021, he was arrested one more time for drugs and weapon charges, including suspected sales of narcotics. Blas was discharged from parole despite all of these arrests. He was then arrested for a probation violation in April 2022.
