Jail reviews security after 6 men escape

[stu]

By LYNN BREZOSKY, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 57 minutes ago

 

 

 

LA VILLA, Texas - Investigators tried to determine Thursday how a former police officer facing drug charges was able to escape with five other inmates from a privately run federal jail near the Mexican border.

 

As the hunt for the men stretched into a third day, authorities halted shipments of new prisoners to the East Hidalgo Detention Center, which remained in lockdown.

 

The six prisoners escaped late Tuesday by overpowering a guard, opening a power-controlled door and cutting through several fences, which included an alarm-equipped electrical fence that apparently was not functioning and may have been turned off.

 

No alarm was sounded. The guard was not injured.

 

On Thursday, the company that manufactured the fence checked its system. The jail also reviewed security measures and added more external lights, security cameras and armed guards.

 

"Everything's being looked at," said Joe Magallan, a deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service.

 

Jail officials conducted a "top-to-bottom shakedown" of inmates and staff, said Patrick LeBlanc, co-owner of jail operator LCS Corrections Services Inc., of Lafayette, La.

 

LeBlanc apologized to the community. "Before this issue, we were under the assumption we had good security," he said. "Sometimes it takes an event to show us that we didn't."

 

The search for the fugitives was expanded beyond Texas to include other states and Mexico, Magallan said. Investigators were questioning the prisoners' relatives and asking Mexican authorities for help.

 

Detectives believe the fugitives split up and were probably picked up in a vehicle on the highway that runs in front of the jail, officials said.

 

On Wednesday, more than 60 law-enforcement officers used helicopters and bloodhounds to search near the jail, about 20 miles north of the Mexican border. Investigators went door-to-door, asking residents to stay home. Schools were closed.

 

Search dogs lost the scent of some footprints at the highway and of other footprints at a levee near the prison, Magallan said.

 

LeBlanc offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Francisco Meza-Rojas, the former McAllen police officer.

 

Meza-Rojas, 41, was scheduled to stand trial on federal drug trafficking charges Oct. 3. The other escapees were illegal immigrants from Mexico alleged to be members of Raza Unida, a violent drug gang.

 

The jail is a minimum-to-maximum security unit with 950 beds. LCS bought the jail about five years ago.