DAYTON — The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office says they are still looking for 32-year-old Patrick Thomas who broke out of a window of a substance treatment facility and climbed down a rope of bed sheets.
>>Two inmates escape Hamilton Co Sheriff’s custody; One still at large
“He was able to break a hole in drywall and concealed that with a locker and a bed he pushed up against,” said Charmaine McGuffey, Hamilton County Sheriff.
The sheriff’s office showed a video Monday that recorded the man throwing a chair through a third floor window and onto the sidewalk below.
He then put a long string of sheets tied together into a door to hold his weight and dropped the remaining 15 below to run away, according to our sister station WCPO in Cincinnati.
“Is it unusual? Absolutely it is,” McGuffey said. “Has it happened before? Yes it has.”
The escape is causing concerns with jail staff in our area.
“You don’t know what steps they will go to,” Major Matt Haines, Montgomery County Jail Commander, told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell Tuesday.
>>Highland Park parade shooting: 7th victim of shooting has died
He said the Downtown Dayton facility is not minimum security and there are no places inmates would see drywall.
“We don’t do any sheets,” said Haines. “Two blankets is what is issued to each inmate.”
Larry Davis told Campbell he hopes a similar escape does not happen here.
“I mean, they’ll try anything, right?” Davis asked. “If they are desperate, they will.”
Hanes says corrections officers and deputies always look for potential weaknesses that inmates could and frequently search cells in the jail.
It is rare that someone escapes, Montgomery County Jail officials say.
If they do, it immediately becomes a number one priority to find that person, return them safely to custody and make sure there is not threat to the community.
©2022 Cox Media Group
