New details released in Louisiana jail escape as investigators search for final fugitive
Officials are raising concerns about the conditions in a Louisiana jail as investigators continue to search for a man who authorities said escaped the facility with two others last week by scaling down a wall.
St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz released new photos and a video Monday of the Dec. 2 escape, when authorities said three detainees, Johnathan Jevon Joseph, Keith Eli and Joseph Allen Harrington, allegedly used sheets to scale the St. Landry Parish Jail’s outer wall, before dropping onto a first-floor roof and fleeing.
At a news conference, Guidroz criticized the conditions of the jail, located 130 miles northwest of New Orleans, and noted that there was ongoing construction he alleged that may have given the detainees a way to escape.
"[The] Parish government had a contracting crew out there fixing some of the water leaks of the roof, and they left extension cords, they left rope and they left any inmate an opportunity to just slide on out," Guidroz said during the news conference Monday.
Two of the three escapees were found last week. One of the inmates, Harrington, took his own life Thursday after officers tracked him to a home and ordered him to surrender, police said.
Joseph surrendered to police the next day after authorities said they followed a tip and found him in another home.
Eli remains on the loose as of Tuesday and there is a reward for his capture.
Guidroz, meanwhile, has criticized St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard over the incident, claiming Guidroz has been asking for funding to repair the 43-year-old jail's deficiencies.
Bellard said in a Facebook post that the claims of "crumbling walls and rusted out cell door locks were inaccurate."
"The security incidents that have occurred are primarily due to a shortage of deputies and a lack of training for current staff," he said.
"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 added.
Guidroz dismissed Bellard's claim, contending that the pay was "competitive."
"The pay for a non-post-certified corrections officer is $18 and some change [an hour]. If you get post-certified, it's $19.15, and we're fixing it to go up to $20," the sheriff said.
Bellard told ABC affiliate KATC Monday that he disagreed with the sheriff's characterization of the jail.
“The bricks and mortar are fine, and I have everything to back it up,” he told KATC.
"I have an architect coming from Baton Rouge tomorrow — a corrections specialist — to help design ways to fix the cinder block issues and prevent escapes. If I have to spend the money myself to protect the public, I will. But this only applies to the third floor — that’s where the mortar is weakening. The other floors have brick and mortar on the outside protecting them," Bellard added.
