A Louisiana inmate that the authorities began to search after receiving a public tip was recaptured on Friday, according to the Sheriff’s office of the Tangipahoa parish.
Tra’von Johnson, 22, was found in Bennett Road in Amaite City, a few miles from the prison of the Tangipahoa parish that escaped Thursday afternoon, said the sheriff’s office in an update on Friday night. This was his second escape from the prison, according to the Sheriff’s office, who said he left the installation “a year ago this month.”
“TPSO wants to thank, first of all, the community for being with us in this effort,” said the Sheriff’s office, adding that the Louisian State Police made the arrest.
The Sheriff’s office shared a video of Johnson that was taken to custody and placed in a Louisian State Police helicopter.
Before his escape, Johnson was waiting for the trial in the prison of the Tangipahoa parish for his alleged role in a home invasion in the Hammond area of 2022 where a man was killed and his son was injured, according to the Sheriff’s office. Since then, he has been accused of escaping simple.
Johnson has been taken to Angola, Louisiana since he was recaptured, where he will wait for the trial, said the Sheriff’s office. The Sheriff’s office did not clarify whether Johnson will take place in the penitentiary of the state of Louisiana in Angola.
Johnson and another inmate, Trevon Wallace, could escape from jail after a inmate in his bedroom flooded a shower around 4:15 pm
“During cleaning, while several outdoor doors were open to push the water, an inner door opened inadvertently less than a minute before the error was made and closed again,” said the Sheriff’s office. “In those few seconds, Johnson and Wallace ran out of all doors to the patio.”
The Sheriff’s office launched a surveillance video of Wallace and Johnson running to the patio before Wallace gives Johnson’s impulse on a perimeter fence. Wallace ran back to the prison building later, where he was intercepted by the deputies who took him back to his cell.
The deputies did not report the incident with the door, or the interception of Wallace, to the superiors, and could not make adequate staff after finding it, said the Sheriff’s office.
Just before 10 pm, the Sheriff’s office received a call from a public member who asked if Johnson was still in custody. The person did not identify, said Sheriff Gerald Sticker at a news conference on Friday afternoon.
Johnson’s escape caused a closure in jail and a search that lasted until around 3 in the morning on Friday morning, according to Sticker. Johnson was finally found Friday night.
“At this time, it is not believed that it was a planned escape, but rather, an opportunistic that was aggravated by a failure of the prison personnel to follow the protocols established as preventive measures for the escapes,” said the Sheriff’s office. “However, current investigation into this incident includes investigating the person who called the prison and the inmate that caused the flood to begin with.”
Since then, Wallace has been accused of simple escape and director to help someone escape, according to Sticker. Four members of the prison staff were placed on administrative license, he said.
According to the Sheriff’s office, the jail “can only customize an individual in charge of monitoring 60 cameras at the same time, while opening doors as requested by deputies inside and around the capsules and bedrooms.” Sticker said that the Sheriff’s office has been working to address deficiencies in jail, but “it is still a work in progress.”
