(USNewsBreak.com) – Staff at jails and prisons go to great lengths to ensure that the inmates remain securely locked within the walls. However, there’s always a risk of a prisoner escaping. In Louisiana, four inmates managed to escape over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Police have since captured two, but two remain at large.
During a news conference on Monday, May 27, Chief Jimmy Travis revealed that the inmates managed to escape through a weak section of a chainlink fence at Tangipahoa Parish Jail. Corrosion between the wire in the recreation yard and an eight-inch gap in another wall had weakened the fencing enough for 19-year-old Avery Guidry and 21-year-old Travon Johnson to fit through on Saturday. On Sunday, 19-year-old Omarion Hookfin and 20-year-old Jamarcus Cyprian followed. The four hid away during recreation time and bided their time until it got dark when they escaped.
2 inmates on the run after escaping Louisiana jail, police say https://t.co/Jpck5pe6tt pic.twitter.com/wt20laF6M2
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 27, 2024
Corrections officers at the jail didn’t notice the four missing until one of the inmates’ family members notified authorities on Sunday. Travis blamed the facility’s lack of adequate staffing and oversight for the delayed response. The guards took no head counts. The chief acknowledged that the jail “had a failure within” and that it was “very concerning” that his staff found out about its missing inmates from someone outside the facility.
Warden Jerry Martin claimed crews had repaired the fence the previous week. He insisted that the four must have made a new breach to escape and blamed weather corrosion for the general condition of the barrier,
Authorities recaptured Johnson and Guidry. They found the pair hiding in a dumpster around 20 miles from the jail. The other two remained at large as of the time of writing. Police arrested Johnson, Guidry, and Hookfin in connection with a 2022 murder. Authorities arrested the other inmate, Cyprian, for weapons and armed robbery charges.
Police are still looking for the two remaining suspects and are asking anyone with information to call the anonymous tip line at 800-554-5245 or visit www.tangicrimestoppers.com.
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