Inmates Escape Through Wall: Cops Search for One

Key Points

• Escape Incident: Three inmates escaped from a Louisiana jail by removing concrete blocks from a wall.
• Current Status: Keith Eli remains on the run, while one inmate has been recaptured and another is deceased.
• Authorities’ Response: The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office is actively pursuing Eli and has launched an internal investigation.
• Previous Escapes: This is not the first jailbreak in Louisiana this year, highlighting ongoing security issues.

Authorities hunted Saturday (Dec. 6) for the last of three inmates who escaped from a Louisiana jail. The men slipped away after removing concrete blocks from a deteriorating wall. As of Monday (Dec. 8), Keith Eli remains on the run, while another inmate is back in custody, and a third is deceased.

“We would prefer that he surrender himself peaceably,” St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz said in a statement, “but we will not rest until he is captured.”

The incident happened at the St. Landry Parish jail in Opelousas, about 130 miles northwest of New Orleans.

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Where Is Keith Eli?

Sheriff Guidroz said the inmates escaped after discovering “a degrading part of an upper wall area.” Over time, they managed to remove the mortar holding the wall’s concrete blocks together. That move allowed the inmates to remove enough blocks to slip through the wall. Then, they used sheets to scale the jail’s outer wall, drop onto a first-floor roof and lower themselves to the ground. Guidroz gave these details in a news release last Wednesday. The sheriff said the breakout will be investigated internally.

A few days later, detectives and SWAT officers were following leads Saturday in pursuit of 24-year-old Keith Eli. He has remained at large for three days after he and two other inmates escaped the parish jail in southwestern Louisiana, per Maj. Mark LeBlanc, a spokesman for the sheriff. Eli was in jail on a charge of second-degree murder.

What Happened To The Other Two Inmates?

One of the escapees, 24-year-old Johnathan Jevon Joseph, was captured Friday following a brief chase. LeBlanc said investigators following a tip found Joseph hiding out at a home. Joseph ran to a nearby storage shed, where he surrendered after being cornered, LeBlanc said. He was in jail on charges of rape and other crimes.

Meanwhile, the third escapee, 26-year-old Joseph Allen Harrington, killed himself with a hunting rifle Thursday after police found him at a home. Cops had used a loudspeaker to urge him to come out, but he didn’t, said Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux. Before his escape, Harrington had faced several felony charges, including home invasion.

Louisiana & Two Group Jail Escapes In One Year

This wasn’t the first bold jail escape in Louisiana this year. In May, 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail after crawling through a hole behind a toilet and leaving a message that read “To Easy LoL.” Authorities searched across multiple states for the escapees as local officials pointed fingers over who was to blame for the jailbreak. It took five months before all 10 inmates were recaptured.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.