LAKE COUNTY ? A ball went over the Lake County Juvenile Hall fence about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, a staff member opened the gate to get it and a 14-year-old detainee saw his chance to escape.
The teen ran about a mile wearing a neon yellow detainee shirt, just two weeks before his scheduled release, said Dean Thornquist, chief deputy probation officer. Staff chased the teen and about two hours later a sheriff”s deputy found him about a mile from the hall.
Thornquist could not release the boy”s name because he”s a juvenile, he said.
Law enforcement originally arrested the teen for smoking marijuana and breaking a curfew, penalizing him with 30 days in juvenile hall, Thornquist said. He will be charged with escape.
“He had 14 days left to go,” Thornquist said. “It seems kind of like a waste, doesn”t it?”
For the next few days, two officers will monitor his movement, the highest level of security in the hall, Thornquist said. He won”t go back to minimum security but he will be allowed to participate in P.E.
Thornquist will refer the teen”s case back to his probation officer for a plan that may include counseling and medical and schooling needs, he said.
“We”ll encourage him to succeed and learn from his mistakes and go from there,” Thornquist said.
The minimum-security detainee had been running laps around the track during physical education at juvenile hall, Thornquist said. As the school supervisor was getting the ball, the teen opened the gate and “took off.”
The teen ran down Whaylen Way where the juvenile hall is located, crossed Lakeshore Boulevard and went into a dry creek bed, Thornquist said. A sheriff”s deputy apprehended the boy near Park Way and Lakeshore Boulevard.
“Last year we had two minimum-security kids out working and they just walked away,” Thornquist said.
Before then, no detainees had escaped for two years, Thornquist said. Staff will review their security protocol and adjust it if needed.
Minimum-security detainees have proved they are progressing to rehabilitation, Thornquist said.
“If we would have considered him dangerous he wouldn”t have been minimum-security,” Thornquist said.
Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
