A manhunt is underway after five men escaped from a Missouri jail in a stolen car.
The St Francois County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that on Tuesday 17 January at around 7pm, the five inmates at the St Francois County Detention Center entered a “secured cell”.
“From there, the inmates made their way through a secured door by use of force. The inmates then made their way to the roof of the Detention Center and eventually onto the ground,” police said. “The inmates made their way to the Centene Corporation within 15 minutes, entered through the secured parking lot and stole a grey 2009 Scion TC with Missouri temporary tags. All inmates left in the stolen vehicle and were last seen on camera traveling in a southerly direction.”
The Sheriff’s office said that the inmates had removed their orange prisoners’ clothing and were instead wearing “white thermal leggings, white boxer and/or basketball shorts and white t-shirts,” with one of them wearing a black t-shirt.
All of the fugitives were being held on felony charges and three of them – LuJuan Tucker, 37, Aaron Sebastian, 30, and Kelly McSean, 52 – “AKA: Larry Bemboom” – are sex offenders, the office added.
Tucker was the inmate seen in a black t-shirt during the escape.
The three known sex offenders were “being held for crimes committed while confined in the Missouri Department of Corrections Sexual Offender Treatment Center” while Dakota Pace, 26, and Michael Wilkins, 40, “were being held on felony warrants”.
The sheriff’s office urged members of the public not to approach the fugitives if they’re spotted, but instead to call 911.
In bulletins issued by the US Marshals Service, the men are described as dangerous and a flight risk, Reuters noted.
The US Marshals also announced a reward of $5,000 each for information regarding Sebastian, McSean, and Tucker, according to KMOV.
For each of Pace and Wilkins, the reward is $2,500.
Anyone with information that might help locate the fugitives is urged to call the St Francois County Sheriff’s Department at (573) 756-3252 or Joint Communications at (573) 431-3131.
