2 inmates on the run after escaping from Louisiana prison, police say

Louisiana police said Monday they had arrested two of four inmates who escaped from prison over the weekend, without the knowledge of the guards who were supposed to be watching them.

Omarion Hookfin, 19; Avery Guidry, 19; Jamarcus Cyprian, 20, and Travon Johnson, 21, who were all incarcerated at the Tangipahoa Parish Prison, escaped Saturday and Sunday through a flimsy section of the prison’s chain-link fence, Chief Jimmy Travis said from the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office to reporters. a press conference on Monday.

Prison officials were unaware of the escapes until they received a phone call Sunday afternoon from a family member of one of the escapees, Travis said. The relative alerted them that two inmates escaped Saturday and came to a relative’s house in the middle of the night looking for a place to stay, Travis said.

By the time prison staff intervened, two other inmates had already escaped, according to the chief.

“This is very concerning. If a proper count had been done, we would have known about it immediately,” Travis said.

The chief said, however, that investigators were quick to find Johnson and Guidry, according to police, after receiving a call from someone who said they had seen them.

The two men, who were arrested in connection with a 2022 homicide in Hammond, Louisiana, were hiding in a dumpster behind a Dollar General store about 22 miles from the prison, according to police.

Hookfin, who was also arrested in connection with the same homicide in 2022, and Cyprian, who was serving time for armed robbery and weapons charges, according to police records, remain at large and likely outside the Tangipahoa Parish, Travis said.

Travis said the investigation into the escape is still ongoing as investigators look at all the evidence and clues, but he said it appears the suspects may have broken a corroded piece of the fence during recess .

“Apparently they managed to make their way through, they hid and after dark they got under a wall and they were able to climb two fences and get away,” Travis said of the incident. Saturday’s escape.

Travis could not immediately reveal which inmate escaped when, only that two escaped Saturday and two Sunday.

The chief acknowledged the jail was understaffed and some employees were inexperienced, but he said that didn’t excuse what happened.

“We had a failure that we need to fix and move forward,” Travis said.

Anyone with information about the suspects can call the Crime Stoppers of Tangipahoa anonymous line at 800-554-5245 or visit www.tangicrimestoppers.com.