Two escaped prisoners are on the loose tonight. Robert Gillett and Cameron Blease, both 17 years old are believed to be hiding out in the area between miles seven and eight on the Western Highway. The pair escaped along with two other men in an early morning break from the low security youth facility at the Hattieville Prison. At around 2:30 the four of them overpowered and viciously beat a prison guard and then escaped undetected by another guard. They headed to Belize City but only reached mile 7 where prison authorities caught up with them. We've been following the pursuit form before eight this morning.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
This plane flown by Kolbe Chairman John Woods seen tracking across the mile 8 area at 9:00 this morning is being used in the search for two escaped prisoners. CEO of the prison Marvin Skeen is leading the search and it is concentrated on mile 8 for a reason:
Marvin Skeen, CEO Hattieville Prison
"At about 6:45 we had a sighting near this area, just after Prosser Agrotec, heading towards Belize City. Our prison bus, which makes the schedule run bringing down the staff to the prison, spotted the four men. He was not aware at that time that an escape had occurred but immediately upon reaching the facility he told us that he saw four men so we mobilized and came out this way. We did some patrols, did not find any in the first instance, but shortly after that we had another sighting from a police vehicle that was passing by and we responded immediately, because we were already in the vicinity, and the police saw four of them make a break for the swamp, which is a little ways down from where we are standing right now. We reached and we immediately went in behind them, we caught one of them first which was Carlos Coronado and shortly after, about ten minutes, we went in and brought out the additional one who is Juarez. During the capture he was shot in the leg and is currently receiving medical attention. The other two are still at large but as you can see, right off to our right, we just had a sighting less than a half hour ago, and some footprints, and we currently have officers within the area, searching the area to locate them. As you can also see the mangrove is extremely tight and we don't think they've gone very far."
Back on the ground, Woods and Assistant Commissioner Crispin Jeffries were coordinating the search - along with armed police officers who had to trod deep into the thick bush, Skeen is confident they won't have to search long.
Marvin Skeen,
"They are young, they are at large, and they are on the run. They don't know where they are, they don't know where they're going, they're just trying to evade recapture, and being barefoot, you can see that swamp isn't the best of places to be. They are hungry, they are tired, and they are running scared so we are pretty certain we can find them. Also they are extremely dangerous even though they are young, they are extremely dangerous due to the nature of their crimes and to the fact that they escaped and the beat up the guard terribly, he's in very severe and critical condition. So they are nobody to be playing games with."
Jules Vasquez,
How soon will you have them back sir?
Marvin Skeen,
"Jules you know as well I can that I can't predict when we'll recapture them, hopefully it'll be before the end of the day. Certainly by tomorrow I would think."
And while prison authorities stare into this thicket of mangroves, they know the escapees are somewhere in here but even with support from the air, finding two desperate teens in here will be difficult.
That prison warden, one Torres is reported to be recovering at the KHMH. He received major head injuries as he was beaten over his head with a piece of board and a stone. He received over a dozen stitches and is recovering.
Those interviews were conducted at around 9:00 this morning and at newstime they still had not been recaptured. Police and prison authorities feel confident that they have not emerged from the area between miles 7 and 8.
Again, both young men, though only 17 years old, are both awaiting trail for murder and are considered dangerous. Robert Gillett is accused of being involved in the Ladyville murder where Floyd Brown's maid was decapitated with a samurai sword. It is notable that though they are minors, all four escapees were housed in the super max area until last week when human rights advocates complained about minors being housed with seasoned criminals.
