Three teens escaped from a Louisiana youth detention facility this weekend, apparently with the help of a female security guard. They were later detained in Texas, WBRZ-TV reports.
Shortly before 7 a.m. on Saturday, officials with the Red River Parish Sheriff’s Office were notified that the inmates had broken out of the Ware Youth Center (WYC) in Coushatta, Louisiana, about 40 miles south of Shreveport.
“Oncoming day shift employees discovered that three male juvenile residents, with help from a female WYC security guard, had escaped the juvenile detention facility approximately four hours earlier,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the Facebook post.
Security cameras reportedly recorded 21-year-old guard Victoria Tune driving the teens away from the facility in a white 2010 Pontiac G6 with a missing rear bumper.
The juveniles were identified as 17-year-old TyJuan Lafitte, who was serving a sentence for first-degree attempted murder; 17-year-old Jeremiah Durham, who was sentenced for armed robbery; and 15-year-old Na’Varaya Lane, sentenced for attempted second-degree murder.
The three suspects were wearing orange jumpsuits at the time of the escape.
Their taste of freedom didn’t last long. Just after midnight on Sunday, police in Houston, Texas, arrested the three teens and Tune, according to an update from the sheriff’s office.
Authorities had located the getaway car allegedly driven by Tune at a Houston motel, where it was placed under surveillance for several hours, KSLA-TV reports.
All four suspects eventually returned to the vehicle, where they were taken into custody.
In online comments about the escape, people who reportedly know Tune say it would be out of character for her to help the teens escape.
“For people who are close to Tori, know that this is completely out of character for her,” one commenter wrote on the sheriff’s office post. “Instead of jumping to conclusions so quickly, give the authorities and the families who are involved enough time to gather all the facts. I grew up with her so I’m very confident when I say that this is very out of character for her.”
News of the escape comes the same week that authorities captured Alabama inmate Casey White, who had been on the lam for 11 days after jailer Vicky White helped him escape. The two were reportedly in a romantic relationship.
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[Featured image: Victoria Tune/Police Handout]
