Teen sought

     At 10:20 a.m., Tuesday, a 15-year-old being taken to a home for at-risk boys jumped out of a van while it was on Imperial Highway in Norwalk and fled. Kevin Tapia was reported as a runaway and the case is being treated as a missing case.

     Sheriff's Lt. Jenny Ha said the teen was part of  Lakewood Station's gang injunction. However, the probation department doesn't consider Tapia one of its high risk individuals. All those deemed high risk end up at probation camps.

     Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall had released him to be placed at Boys Republic in Chino Hills.

     Los Padrinos' procedure is when it releases minors ordered by the court to be put on placement, the facility is supposed to pick up the juvenile. Boys Republic did so on Tuesday morning.

     Lance Parks, associate director at Boys Republic, said the teen jumped out of the van before the vehicle got on the freeway. The van wasn't moving fast.

     The driver called the sheriff's station.

     Boys Republic is for minors on probation, he added. They typically stay six to nine months. It also has a high school.