Escaped Inmate captured after crashing car along with kitchen staffer who helped set him free
An escaped Mississippi inmate and a prison employee who allegedly helped him escape have both been arrested.
Ryan Burks, 39, managed to escape from the Carroll County Regional Correctional Facility on Wednesday.
Carroll County officials said the facility was placed on lockdown and emergency measures were taken after Burks escaped.
Prison officials subsequently discovered that kitchen worker Leslie Nichole McNeil, 44, had also left the premises with Bucks in her car.
The two were subsequently located and authorities arrived on the scene to stop the vehicle, but the pair ignored commands.
Ryan Burks, 39, managed to escape from the Carroll County Regional Correctional Facility on Wednesday
Jail officials subsequently discovered that kitchen worker Leslie Nichole McNeil, 44, had also left the premises with Bucks in her car
Officials said the car was eventually totaled after a traffic stop, with both occupants arrested shortly afterward.
Burks was turned over to the sheriff’s office and then transferred to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
While McNeal was taken to a local hospital for treatment and subsequently charged with aiding and abetting, she is currently being held in the Lafayette County Jail.
Burks was arrested for fleeing in a motor vehicle and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
At the time of his failed escape attempt, he was serving a prison sentence for two counts of assault and burglary, having been convicted in January 2006.
In July of that year, two inmates from a Mississippi jail in Claiborne County were captured after escaping for more than 24 hours.
Tyrekennel Collins, 24, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, were both captured in an abandoned home after escaping from a detention center.
Burks was arrested for felony fleeing in a motor vehicle and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon
The two prisoners were considered dangerous by authorities and were being held on suspicion of murder at the time of their escape.
Because the escape failed, they were given an additional charge of escape, which earned them an additional five years in prison.
According to figures from 2000 to 2019, the number of escapees from state and federal prisons has decreased significantly.
In 2019, 2,231 inmates escaped from state or federal prisons. This is a decrease from the previous year, when 2,351 inmates escaped.
The most recent figures are less than half of what was counted in 2000, with 5,168 escapes from state and federal prisons.