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Inmate escapes from WBR jail, gets caught with marijuana

7 years 8 months 3 weeks ago Tuesday, June 21 2016 Jun 21, 2016 June 21, 2016 4:29 PM June 21, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ

PORT ALLEN - A West Baton Rouge Parish trustee is locked up in the main part of the jail after investigators said he escaped over the weekend. Investigators said when he got caught, they found two bags of marijuana on him.

According to investigators, 37-year-old Haron Link was serving time for armed robbery in Iberville Parish after getting convicted last November.

The incident is yet another issue for the West Baton Rouge Parish Detention Center which had 22 escapes over a two year period, according to the State Legislative Auditor.

"At 9:15 during a security check, it was discovered he was off-site, off the grounds of work release," West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Mike Cazes said. "At approximately 2:15, they discovered him sneaking back into the building."

Last year, another high-profile escape occurred when an inmate, Emanuel Jones, walked away from the work release facility. He was accused of kidnapping and robbing a man at a hotel off of South Acadian Thruway. At least one employee at the jail was disciplined for not performing a proper headcount.

Over the weekend, investigators said Link placed a dummy in his bed and walked away from the facility.

"We brought him immediately to the parish prison and strip searched him," Cazes said. "He had two bags of marijuana what we believe is marijuana."

Tonight, the sheriff said Link has lost his trusty status and big changes are coming to the jail.

"I've instructed them and this guy will be suspended," Cazes said. "He said I screwed up. I stressed very seriously you have to touch bodies and touch flesh. That's the only way to do checks. These guys are criminals. They masterminds at trying to do things."

Cazes said he plans to add fencing around the work release facility and add an alarm to one of the doors.

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