Two inmates on the run after escaping from Louisiana prison, police say

Police in Louisiana said Monday they had arrested two of four inmates who escaped from prison over the weekend without the knowledge of the guards who were supposed to be guarding them.

Omarion Hookfin, 19; Avery Guidry, 19; Jamarcus Cyprian, 20, and Travon Johnson, 21, all incarcerated at the Tangipahoa Parish Jail, escaped through a weak spot in the jail’s chain-link fence on Saturday and Sunday, Chief Jimmy Travis of the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office told reporters during a news conference Monday.

Prison officials were unaware of the escapes until they received a call Sunday afternoon from a family member of one of the escapees, Travis said. The relative alerted them that two inmates had escaped Saturday and arrived at a relative’s home in the middle of the night looking for shelter, Travis said.

When prison staff intervened, two other inmates had already escaped, according to the chief.

“This is very concerning. If the appropriate counts had been done, we would have known about it immediately,” Travis said.

However, according to police, it didn’t take long for investigators to find Johnson and Guidry after receiving a call from someone who claimed to have seen them.

The couple, arrested in connection with a 2022 murder in Hammond, Louisiana, were hiding in a dumpster behind a Dollar General store about 22 miles from the prison, police said.

Hookfin, who was also arrested in connection with the same 2022 murder, and Cyprian, who was serving a prison sentence for armed robbery and weapons possession, according to police records, are still at large and likely outside Tangipahoa Parish, Travis said.

Travis said the investigation into the breakout is still ongoing as investigators review all evidence and leads, but he said it appears the suspects broke through a corroded section of the fence while on their own time.

“Apparently they made their way out, hid and crawled under a wall after dark. They were able to climb over two fences and escape,” Travis said of Saturday’s escape.

Travis could not immediately say which inmate escaped when; he said only that two escaped on Saturday and two on Sunday.

While the chief acknowledged that the prison was understaffed and that some staff were inexperienced, he said that was no excuse for the incidents.

“We made a mistake internally that we need to correct and then move on,” Travis said.

Anyone with information on the suspects can call the Crime Stoppers of Tangipahoa anonymous tip line at 800-554-5245 or visit www.tangicrimestoppers.com.