Oklahoma Prisoners Escape Through Showers: 2 of 4 Fugitives Still at Large
Oklahoma prisoners escaped early Sunday morning after taking advantage of a hatch in a shower, according to the latest reports. The four men managed to make it at least 20 miles away from the prison before two of them were caught, but the other two men are still at large and considered armed and dangerous.
The Oklahoma prisoners' escape occurred because they broke a locked maintenance hatch above a shower head at the Caddo County Detention Center in Anadarko, according to KFOR-TV. The four men, Dylan Ray Three Irons, 21; Prime Tounwin Brown, 23; Anthony James Mendonca, 24; and Triston Cheadle, 32, apparently planned the escape as they entered there with all their clothes on.
After climbing into the hatch, the men made their way into a pipe chase and to a door that was not part of the jail. From there they made their escape.
"All they had to do was push the door and walk out because it's not in the jail," Caddo County Sheriff Gene Cain told Fox News.
The men didn't make it far before authorities realized they had gotten out. Police received calls about men in orange jumpsuits walking around outside the prison, but the search for the four fugitives was complicated when officers realized their clothes had been abandoned, KOCO-TV reported.
"They had their orange suits on, and at some point a couple blocks south of the jail, they discarded their clothes," the sheriff said. "We don't know if someone picked them up and brought them clothes."
Irons and Brown, who were being held on a probation violation charge and a second-degree burglary charge, respectively, were caught not long after visiting a convenience store in Chickasha, Okla.
"They came in and seemed nice," employee Linda Harley told The Chickasha Express-Star. "They bought some Ramen noodles, asked if we do the lotto here, and left."
Police were waiting outside for the fugitive pair, who were described as "wet and dirty" after their escape.
Mendonca had a concealed weapon charge and avoided arrest, while Cheadle was charged with armed robbery and could be convicted of methamphetamine possession. Both men are still at large and are considered armed and dangerous, according to NBC News.