The last of three inmates who escaped a St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, jail after removing mortar and concrete blocks from a jail wall has beencapturedmore than two weeks after escaping, authorities said.
The inmates – all three of whom were being held on charges of a violent nature – escaped from the St. Landry Parish jail in early December after gradually removing the blocks from a degrading wall and using sheets to scale down the outside and drop onto the first-floor roof,St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidrozsaid in a social media post.
The last inmate captured, Keith Eli, was apprehended without incident in Opelousas,according to a releasefrom authorities.
Another inmate, Johnathon Joseph of Opelousas, was arrested after law enforcement acted on "numerous tips," the sheriff said. The 24-year-old, who had been jailed on charges of rape and other crimes, surrendered after first running into a storage shed near a home where he'd been hiding out, a spokesperson for the sheriff toldThe Associated Press.
Joseph Allen Harrington, 26, who faced several felony charges, including home invasion, killed himself after he was found, Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux told theAPover the phone.
Police used a loudspeaker to urge Harrington to come out of the home but later heard a gunshot. Harrington was found dead inside the house after shooting himself with a hunting rifle, Boudreaux told the AP.
The incident marks the latest brazen escape from a Louisiana jail this year, after10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jailin May in a stunning overnight escape, using electric hair trimmers with multiple clipper blades to help cut their way through the cell walls. The last of those 10 escapees wasn'trecaptureduntil five months later at a home in Atlanta, according to US Marshals.
This is also the second escape from the St. Landry Parish Jail since October, when one inmate got away before being recaptured by the Opelousas Police Department,CNN affiliate KADN reported. In that escape, the inmate was a trustee – a prisoner typically granted special privileges – who was able to run away in the process of being escorted from one building to another, Guidroz told KADN.
The sheriff emphasized in the interview with KADN the jail is "overcrowded and it needs a lot of maintenance" –– a claim that has been disputed by the parish government.
"The claims about crumbling walls and rusted-out cell door locks are inaccurate. The Parish Jail does not have these structural issues, and I invite the Sheriff to produce documentation to substantiate his claims," parish president Jessie Bellard wrote in apost on social media.
In anews conference, Bellard said that the jail, built in 1982, is structurally sound.
"I want to make sure that people understand that this jail is not crumbling. It's in good shape … we have the engineer reports to back that up," Bellard affirmed during the news conference. Structural engineers inspected the jail last year and came back with a "clean bill of health," he added.
Bellard instead attributed the escapes to a lack of manpower and training.
"It is unreasonable to expect one deputy to manage over 100 inmates on a floor, especially during night shifts," he wrote. "The Sheriff must take responsibility for improving deputy pay to ensure we are competitive with surrounding parishes, properly compensating those who risk their lives daily."
Bellard highlighted the need for improved security measures, including addressing the lack of security footage.
An internal investigation into the escape has been initiated, Guidroz said in a social media post, and the "the Jail Supervisory Staff will be providing a comprehensive report and both will be forwarded to my office for appropriate action."
Sheriff's department spokesperson Maj. Mark LeBlanc told the AP while he wasn't aware of the building being similarly breached in the past, anyone will try to escape with enough time and opportunity.
"These three were just a little more creative than in years past," he said.
CNN's Jada Furlow and Michelle Watson contributed to this report.
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