A routine facility check at a county jail just east of Atlanta on Monday morning suddenly turned into a manhunt after officials discovered three men, all accused of violent crimes, had escaped the DeKalb County Jail.
“We jumped into action immediately,” DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox said.
It’s the latest escape from a jail this year. Ten inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail in May, using electric hair trimmers with multiple clipper blades to help cut their way through the cell walls. And earlier this month, three inmates escaped a different Louisiana jail after removing mortar and concrete blocks from a wall.
The inmates from DeKalb County Jail — Stevenson Charles, Yusuf Minor and Naod Yohannes — were captured in South Florida, officials announced on Tuesday.
Charles, who had already been sentenced to life in prison on federal murder charges, was facing murder and armed robbery charges in DeKalb County, officials said.
Minor and Yohannes face charges that include armed robbery and arson.
CNN was unable to get in touch with legal representation for Charles and Yohannes. Minor’s legal representation was unavailable for immediate comment.
The exact methods of how the three escaped and were able to leave the facility without being noticed are unclear, officials said.
But the jail, Maddox said Tuesday, is an “aging facility that’s deteriorating right before our eyes.”
A portion of the cell, DeKalb Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Temetris Atkins said, had been compromised. Atkins said officials would not provide more specifics because investigators do not want to give anyone “ideas” for others to “further compromise this building.”
By the time officials discovered the breach, the inmates, who range in age from 24 to 31, had a four-hour head start on authorities, Atkins said.
Police said they reviewed the men’s recorded phone calls leading up to the breakout.
Charles, the inmate facing murder charges, had called a man before the jailbreak, officials said.
The man picked the inmates up outside the jail and took them to Minor’s girlfriend’s home, US Marshal Thomas Brown said.
Officials did not name the man or the girlfriend who aided the men.
The girlfriend, Brown said, called the inmates a Lyft to an address in Florida.
The US Marshals tracked the three men to Florida and arrested them in the Miami area.
“The Lyft driver is very traumatized by this,” Brown said, adding the FBI interviewed the driver for possible kidnapping charges against the men. A Lyft spokesperson told CNN the driver is being offered support.
To the knowledge of the sheriff’s office, no individuals were harmed by the men while they evaded custody.
Officials said they are now turning their attention back to the jail, an over-30-year-old facility.
Atkins said the area that was compromised has been repaired, and similar areas have been fortified to prevent similar escapes.
Maddox said the department will be looking at improvements that the jail needs.
“We’re going to focus on what we can do to stop it from happening in the future,” the sheriff said.
This story has been updated with more information.
