SLA radical-turned-housewife back in prison

(CNN) — A former member of the radical 1970s group Symbionese Liberation Army is back in custody after a clerical error miscalculated her prison release date, a California Department of Corrections spokesman said Saturday.

Sara Jane Olson was freed Monday.

But her earliest release date is now March 17, 2009, Chief Deputy Secretary Scott Kernan said.

Olson had served about six years behind bars for her role in incidents in 1975: the attempted bombing of two police cars and the shooting death of a customer during a bank robbery.

Prosecutors said she was part of an SLA plot to murder Los Angeles police officers by planting bombs under their squad cars.

One of the cars was parked outside a crowded Hollywood restaurant. The bombs did not go off, and no one was hurt.

Originally named Kathleen Soliah, she fled California after authorities began looking for her and then changed her name and lived for more than two decades as a fugitive before she was arrested in 1999 in Minnesota.

She had married and was raising three daughters.

Many residents rallied to Olson’s cause and helped post bail for her.

But one group in California, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, denounced her release.

“She needs to serve her full time in prison for these crimes and does not deserve time off for working in prison,” the group said.

“After participating in one killing and attempting two more, she managed to elude authorities and live a guilt-free middle class life for decades. Criminals who attempt to murder police officers should not be able to escape justice simply because they have good lawyers.”

The SLA is best known for its 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.

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