Prison Escapes

There are basically four types of facilities from which prisoners could escape–including city jails, county jails, juvenile detention centers, state prisons, state hospitals, and federal prisons. While prison or jail breaks are not very common, they do occur and can be extremely dangerous for public or the police. “Escapes from custody” also occur, wherein the escape takes place outside of a facility, but the suspect was in-custody beforehand. Many escapes occur when inmates are visiting medical care facilities, or sites for psychological or substance abuse evaluation. A small minority of escapes unfold when a prisoner on home-monitoring cuts off their electronic ankle bracelet. On rare occasion an inmate enters substance abuse treatment on an in-patient basis. If they do not return to custody as is required, it is considered an “escape from custody” and an arrest warrant is issued. The two groups or types of escape are similar in a lot of ways.

A table is being constructed for this page with over 200 identified cases of escape, and many more to be identified. This matrix will contain: year, jurisdiction or facility, suspect name, date of escape, and date of recapture. It is likely that “jail or prison escapes” will be listed on a table separate from that of “escapes from custody.”

 

Jail & Prison Facility Escapes

The following table includes escape from correctional institutions including prisons, jails, detention centers, or locked mental health facilities. This is not a census of all cases, as some instances may go unreported by correctional authorities. Cases will be added as time permits.

Arrestees may have charges dropped or reduced at the discretion of prosecuting attorneys, but these arrests for escape have been reported by correctional facilities and in the popular media.

Abbreviations:

• Co = County
• Det Ctr = Detention Center (County)
• Federal Prison Ca = Federal Prison Camp (Federal)
• Jail An = Jail Annex
• MCF – Minnesota Correctional Facility (State)
• NE Regional CC = Northeast Regional Correctional Center (Federal)

Year Facility Prisoner Name Escape Date Recovery Date 2021 NE Regional CC Branden King 10-Sep-21 11-Sep-21 2021 Koochiching Co Jail Hunter Lewis 27-Apr-21 missing 2021 NE Regional CC Jesse Crabtree 16-May-21 16-May-21 2021 Cass Co Det Ctr Unidentified Sep-21 missing 2020 NE Regional CC Keith Bellanger 13-Nov-20 17-Nov-20 2020 Brown Co Jail Hobert Roark 29-Dec-20 missing 2020 Ottertail Co Jail Terry Ciancio Jun-20 28-Dec-20 2019 Freeborn Co Jail Victor Nava-Urioste 23-Jul-19 23-Jul-19 2018 Rice Co Jail Casey Bauer 6-Apr-18 13-Apr-18 2018 Fed Prison Camp Daniel Torres 7-Feb-18 8-Feb-18 2018 Fed Prison Camp Alejandro Rodriguez 9-Jan-18 9-Jan-18 2018 Hennepin Co Jail Michael Simon 28-Nov-18 28-Nov-18 2018 NE Regional CC Tony Krueger 22-Aug-18 22-Aug-18 2017 Sibley Co Jail Jason Ruehling 23-Aug-17 23-Aug-17 2016 MCF Faribault Christian Klockerman 2-Jul-16 2-Jul-16 2015 MCF Stillwater Jeffrey Weidell 7-Apr-15 11-Apr-15 2015 MCF Stillwater Patrick Buswell 12-Jun-15 16-Jun-15 2015 Rice Co Jail Annex Austen Chytracek 14-Jan-15 14-Jan-15 2015 Rice Co Jail Annex Austyn Gates 14-Jan-15 14-Jan-15 2013 MCF Stillwater Lowan Taylor 11-Jan-13 15-Jan-13 2013 MCF Shakopee Angel Benjamin 2-Dec-13 2-Dec-13 2013 Fed Prison Camp Michael Krzyaniak 30-Mar-13 5-Apr-13 2013 Fed Prison Camp Gerald Greenfield 30-Mar-13 5-Apr-13

Escapes From Custody

The following table includes escape from the custody of police, sheriffs, courts, correctional officers, home monitoring, mental health facilities, or failures to return to a correctional facility as required. It does not knowingly include bail-jumping. This is not a census of all cases, as some instances may go unreported by correctional authorities. Cases will be added as time permits.

Arrestees may have charges dropped or reduced at the discretion of prosecuting attorneys, but these arrests for escape from custody have been reported in the popular media.

Abbreviations:

• EFC = Escape From Custody