By Miles Jay Oliver
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. — One of two men who escaped a Yakima County jail facility last week is in custody while authorities continue their search for the second man.
Chad Everett Tipton, 31, was arrested without incident about 11:30 p.m. Friday in Olympia by the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, Olympia Police Department and Washington State Patrol, according to the Yakima Department of Corrections.
Steven Douglas Roche, also 31, remains at large.
Roche and Tipton were discovered missing from the county Department of Correction’s Pacific Avenue facility around
4 a.m. Tuesday. The pair are believed to have escaped the facility through an unlocked door from an indoor recreational yard. An internal investigation revealed a lock on the door failed when placed in the lock position. They then found a gate unsecured and were able to scale an 8- to 10-foot fence to make their escape.
Roche and Tipton were housed at the jail under a contract with Kootenai County, Idaho, which pays the department to hold inmates.
Roche was being held pending trial for multiple counts of burglary, grand theft and forgery. He is described as 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 315 pounds. He has blue eyes, receding red hair, and a beard and mustache. His name is tattooed on his left shoulder. Roche was last seen wearing jeans and either a gray or blue T-shirt or sweatshirt with “YCDOC” printed on the back.
The sheriff’s office continues to warn the public not to approach Roche. Instead, they ask anyone with information to call 509-574-2500 or 800-572-0490.
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©2017 Yakima Herald-Republic (Yakima, Wash.)