Three inmates—including one who was being held on a murder charge and one already convicted of murder—have escaped from a county jail just east of Atlanta, authorities say. The breakout happened early Monday morning at the DeKalb County Jail and was discovered during a routine security check, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office said. "We take this breach very seriously and are working diligently to ensure these individuals are safely returned to custody as quickly as possible," Sheriff Melody Maddox said in a statement. There were no immediate details about how the escape was carried out, the AP reports.
The men might be armed and are considered dangerous, the sheriff's office warned. "The public is urged to exercise extreme caution and should not approach them," the sheriff's office said. The jail is in Decatur, about 10 miles east of downtown Atlanta. The sheriff's office shared photos and details of the inmates in a Facebook post:
- Stevenson Charles, 24, is charged with murder and armed robbery.
- Yusuf Minor, 31, is charged with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
- Noad Yohannes, 25 is charged with simple assault, arson, and unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution.
The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Minor was already serving a life sentence after being convicted of felony murder and malice murder early last year. Charles was sentenced to life last year after pleading guilty to crimes including false imprisonment, aggravated sodomy, kidnapping, armed robbery, and aggravated assault.
"Let the message go out to Mr. Charles and all other fugitives. We are looking for and we will find you," Thomas E. Brown, US marshal for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement. The Journal-Constitution reports that Charles is the main focus of the search because he was also convicted on federal carjacking charges.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
