Ex-Convict Featured In Recidivism Prevention Program Arrested In Alleged Car Theft
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A new program designed to keep ex-convicts out of jail after they are released, but over the weekend, police arrested one of the participants that CBS13 profiled months ago.
We first introduced you to Robert Twofeathers in May of this year, when we did a story on Sacramento's Ascend Program.
But police say over the weekend, Twofeathers was arrested at a 7-Eleven for stealing a car.
Twofeathers insists the program changed his life, and this was just a slip-up.
"If I would have stayed in contact with people in the program after I graduated the program, I probably wouldn't be here," he said.
Twofeathers has been in and out of jail since he was 13. After graduating from the Ascend Program, his adviser, Tony White, says she thought he was on his way to a clean slate.
Twofeathers denies the weekend's allegations, saying he bought the car and the electronics did not belong to him, and insists the program works.
White says the numbers prove the program works.
"So you try to fix people but it's not a one stop thing you're going to be re-arrested and come back a second time," she said.
Only about 12 percent of the students reoffend, compared to a statewide rate of 65 percent, White says. She wants Robert to know he, too, can start over.
White says the goal of the program is to see the low re-offending rate, and that when a student is re-arrested, it's usually for a lesser crime.
