By Dean Boudreaux
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. — Corrections officers at the St. Landry Parish Jail uncovered an attempted escape from a third-floor cell Friday after receiving a tip, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Three inmates used a metal electrical box in the ceiling and broken pieces of a bed frame to chip away at the cell’s concrete block wall, Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said in a news release Monday. They “had not progressed very far before being discovered,” he said.
Maj. Mark Leblanc said officers received “credible information” and inspected the cell, where they found the damage. He declined to disclose the nature or source of the tip, citing the ongoing investigation.
The inmates did not reach the wall cavity or any structural elements, Leblanc said. The damage “is something that can certainly be repaired,” he said.
The cell had no light fixture, leaving the electrical box exposed. Guidroz said parish maintenance personnel had removed the fixture “at some point.” Leblanc said inmates had damaged the fixture, forcing its removal. Other cells have heavy metal guards over their lights, but this one did not, he said. He did not know when the fixture was removed.
Guidroz said the cell has had maintenance requests dating to 2021, adding that the incident “once again illustrates the lack of physical maintenance in the jail facility.”
The Sheriff’s Office identified 19 repair requests dating to 2021, Leblanc said. He did not know how many involved the cell’s lighting. All remain open, he said.
“They may be repetitive about the same issue,” Leblanc said. “But there are still outstanding maintenance requests.”
The Sheriff’s Office submits maintenance requests to parish government, which oversees the building’s upkeep, Leblanc said. The parish would provide repair cost estimates, he said.
“That’s their purview,” he said.
Leblanc said the jail is more than 40 years old and sees heavy use.
The cell is closed until repairs are completed, Guidroz said. The three inmates have been placed in isolation, and the cell block is on lockdown.
No new charges have been filed. Leblanc said officers did not catch the inmates damaging the wall and could not determine who was directly involved.
“We don’t have any specific information as to who or how many of them were directly physically involved,” he said.
The inmates are Isaiah Carrier, Lenny Bruce and Drake Pickney. Bruce is jailed on first-degree murder and armed robbery charges, with bond set at $500,000. Pickney faces charges that include second-degree murder. Carrier is jailed on charges that include possession of a Schedule II drug and bond revocation.
Parish government officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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