By Randy Ludlow and Jim Woods
The Columbus Dispatch
LANCASTER, Ohio — Authorities late last night still had not found two juvenile prisoners who escaped in Lancaster while at the courthouse for a hearing yesterday.
The teens, handcuffed and wearing leg shackles, escaped by running from a van parked behind the Fairfield County Courthouse about 4:20 p.m., said Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen.
The escapees were identified as Zachary Marcum, 16, and Tyler Davis, 17.
Last night, Phalen didn’t know of their exact charges, but he said at least one had pending theft charges.
The teens were in the custody of employees of the Multi-County Juvenile Detention Center when they fled, the sheriff said.
Lancaster police and Fairfield County deputies were still searching for Marcum and Davis last night, Phalen said.
“It’s hard to understand how they got away,” Phalen said. “They (authorities) had the area saturated quickly.”
One juvenile was wearing an orange jumpsuit when he escaped; the other had on a black-and-white jumpsuit.
Copyright 2010 The Columbus Dispatch