Jetson Escapees Apprehended

BATON ROUGE, La – Two youth who escaped from Jetson Center for Youth in Baker on Monday were safely apprehended about 7 p.m. today in a wooded area approximately four miles from the facility. The pair were taken into custody by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office and have been charged with escape.

Jetson Center’s chase team was assisted in the search for the youth by a chase team from Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson, LA and the State Police, as well as the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. OYD Deputy Secretary Simon Gonsoulin expressed his gratitude to state and local law enforcement, and DCI for their assistance in apprehending the youth and helping to assure their safety as well as the safety of the public.

The two youth include a 15 year old from New Iberia and a 17 year old from St. Mary Parish, both of whom were incarcerated at Jetson for non-violent property offenses.

Both will receive medical evaluations by staff from LSU Health Sciences Center stationed at Jetson, to determine their physical condition and make sure they were unharmed during the time they were away from the facility.

Public safety as well as the safety of youth in custody is a primary concern of the Office of Youth Development, Gonsoulin said. An investigation into the escape has already been launched and security operations will receive a top-to-bottom evaluation to determine ways to minimize the risk of such incidents in the future.

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