Hastings, FL — It didn't take very long for four runaway teenage inmates to be caught after a breakout from a youth academy early this morning.
The St. Johns Sheriff's Office says all the male inmates were found in a stolen car around 3 a.m. in the area of State Roads 206 and 207, not far from Hastings Youth Academy.
All four teens had fled from that academy and at least one of the teens was behind the wheel of the stolen car, according to SJSO spokesman Kevin Kelshaw.
"The four juveniles battered a supervisor, took his keys and radio and escaped from the facility," Kelshaw added.
He says one of the teens, 16-year-old Ramah Hicks, asked the 76-year-old guard if he could use the restroom. When he came back to the dorm, he allegedly hit the guard in the head. That guard fell, dropping his keys in the process. Hicks then allegedly took the guard’s radio as well, before locking the guard in a room and getting the three other teens.
Deputies were conducting an air and ground search in the area soon after the teens escaped. All four were considered dangerous at the time of the escape by SJSO.
The other inmates are identified as 15-year-old Michael Neal, 16-year-old Dominic Putnam and 17-year-old Kenneth Pfuntner.
All four have been arrested for battery on a detention staff member, robbery, depriving an officer of communication, false imprisonment, petty theft, and escape from a juvenile detention facility. More charges could be coming. SJSO isn’t sure at this time whether the escape was planned, or a crime of opportunity.
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