Louisiana officials continue search for last of three escaped inmates | Louisiana
Authorities were searching Sunday for the last of three inmates who escaped after removing concrete blocks from a rotting wall at a Louisiana prison.
“We would prefer that he surrender himself peacefully,” St. Landry County Sheriff Bobby J Guidroz said in a statement, “but we will not rest until he is captured.”
Detectives and special tactics officers on Saturday followed leads in pursuit of 24-year-old Keith Eli, who remained at large for three days after escaping with himself and two other inmates from the St. Landry prison in southwestern Louisiana, sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Mark LeBlanc said. Eli was jailed on second-degree murder charges.
One of the escapees, 24-year-old Johnathan Jevon Joseph, was captured Friday after a short chase. Following a tip, investigators found Joseph, who was incarcerated for rape and other crimes, hiding in a house, LeBlanc said. Joseph ran to a nearby warehouse and surrendered after being cornered, LeBlanc said.
The third of the fugitives, 26-year-old Joseph Allen Harrington, died Thursday by suicide with a shotgun after police found him in a house and encouraged him to come outside using a loudspeaker, Port Barre police Chief Deon Boudreaux said. Before his escape, Harrington had faced several felony charges, including trespassing.
This wasn’t the first daring prison break in Louisiana this year. In May, 10 inmates escaped from a New Orleans prison by crawling through a hole behind a toilet and leaving a message reading “Easy LoL.” Authorities searched for fugitives in several states as local officials pinpointed who was responsible for the escape. It took five months to recapture all 10 prisoners.
As sheriff, Guidroz runs the St. Landry prison in Opelousas, about 145 miles northwest of New Orleans. He said the inmates escaped after discovering “a rotting section in the upper wall area” and over time managed to remove the mortar holding the wall’s concrete blocks together. This allowed them to lift enough of the block to slide off the wall.
The inmates then used sheets to climb the exterior wall of the prison, jump onto the first-floor roof and lower themselves to the ground, Guidroz said Wednesday.
The sheriff said the escape will be investigated internally.
