Three prisoners are on the loose tonight and are believed to be somewhere in Belize City. Information to our newsroom just minutes before newstime is that three of those prisoners were caught in the Port Loyola area of Belize City. Our team was out there at the time of capture and we'll have that story later on in the newscast.
But first, we can tell you that they escaped this afternoon at around 2:30 near mile 2½ on the Western Highway. At the time, they were being taken back to the Hattieville prison after appearing in the Belize City Magistrate's Court. There were three police escorts in the bus and the escapees easily outdid them. The 7 of them pounced on the police driver of the bus, beating him to the head and then they bounded out of the bus, leaving the two other policemen behind.
7NEWS has been following the trail of their escape all afternoon and Keith Swift reports.
Keith Swift Reporting, [keithkswift@gmail.com]
The 6 prisoners made their dash to freedom here in front of Leslie's Import and headed into the yard where they scaled two sets of high chain link fences. That took them into the swamps of Police Street Extension and at least two of them ended up in up in this backyard. An eyewitness watched as two of the escapees emerge from the swamps. They were ruffled but mustered the composure to casually walk out onto the street.
Eyewitness,
"I saw two man come through the yard, one went through the front and one went through the back. The water went up the chest. They had swampy water on their foot and everything. We weren't worried about them until when I came and saw the footprints. Then a man told me they are escaped prisoners."
Keith Swift,
Did they run out of the yard?
Eyewitness,
"They just walked out like normal."
Keith Swift,
They didn't say anything to you?
Eyewitness,
"No sir. They just looked at us and left."
The men walked to their freedom and into the Mahogany Street Extension Area which became the staging ground for intensive search efforts. 7NEWS was there as police teams searched in mobiles, on bikes, and on foot led by the man commanding Eastern Division - Assistant Commissioner of Police Crispin Jeffries. Jeffries canvassed the area on foot warning residents that dangerous criminals were on the loose. Kay Robinson who lives on Gile Street received the warning personally.
Kay Robinson, Lake I Resident
"He said that if I listened to the radio, some prisoners escaped and they are armed and very dangerous so just be on the lookout."
Keith Swift,
How concerned are you?
Kay Robinson,
"Well I am very concerned now. I have to be on the lookout because anything can happen. He said some prisoners escaped."
It was 6 prisoners to be exact and police believe that at least two of them might be hiding out in the Lake Independence Area. This afternoon a tip led officers to this house just behind the Complex Building. Area residents told police they saw one of the suspects enter the residence. But after searching the house, police left empty handed. A canvas of an adjoining over grown lot was also fruitless. Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid says all six men should be considered dangerous.
G. Michael Reid, Police Press Officer
"Of the six that escaped, we believe that at least two are in the St. Martin's DePorres Area. We know that they might be heading for the river and we understand that a couple might be heading out of town. At this point we're asking all persons who are on the highway to not pick up any passengers that they're not familiar with and for the residents of the area to be extremely careful and to secure their property in particular tonight.
There are quite a number of police officers on the ground right now. The police are combing the area and we're doing everything we can to recapture these prisoners as quickly as possible. Certainly there needs to be some concern. Suffice to say the police will maintain a presence in the area and will do everything possible to protect the citizens and to also secure the recapture of these prisoners."
Reid says prisoners cannot be handcuffed on buses and that may have created the window of opportunity for their daring escape.
G. Michael Reid,
"Because of the fact that they are not allowed to be handcuffed, or secured in anyway on the buses, in the event that there is an accident of some kind, these prisoners were on the bus and were able to be move around. We understand that they attacked the bus driver and he was injured. He had an injury to the head and as far as we understand he is now recuperating at the KHMH."Keith Swift,
How did this happen? G. Michael Reid,
"Well hindsight is 20/20. There's lot of things you could look at that could have been done but we don't know. At this point we'll have to do an investigation, determine exactly what occurred, what went wrong, and what can be done to correct it from ever happening again." But right now priority one on foot, on bike, and in mobile patrol is finding the six escapees: they are: Robert Hill, Manuel Williams, Edwin Vanegas, Allan Perdomo, Carlton Lord Jr., Michael Faux, and Manuel Williams.
As we noted, three of the escaped prisoners were captured in dramatic fashion around 6:30 this evening at the corner of Reggae Street and Kraal Road. After a standoff with a swarm of police officers on the top of a two storey private residence, police took into custody Allan Perdomo, Michael Faux, and Manuel Williams. Carlton Lord, Robert Hill, and Edwin Vanegas remain at large.
