Odd News

2 US inmates escape on bus

(Agencies)
Updated: 2006-06-04 11:22

Two inmates, including one charged with murder, broke through an office window at the District of Columbia Jail in Washington DC on Saturday and escaped aboard a city shuttle bus, police said.

Police were searching for Ricardo Jones, 25, and Joseph Leaks, 32, who broke out just before 10:30 a.m., said police spokesman Sgt. Joe Gentile. The jail was put on lockdown after the escape.

The inmates left the jail by entering an administrative office and breaking a window, according to Devon Brown, director of the Washington DC Department of Corrections.

"This was not an easy task to accomplish," he said.

It was not clear why the two men had been in that area of the jail.

An officer arriving for work chased the two men, but lost them in the area of a Metro station not far from RFK Stadium. Both men were wearing blue prison jumpsuits.

Jones and Leaks were awaiting trial in connection with a shooting last July in the District. Jones was charged with first-degree murder and Leaks was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and obstruction of justice; both also face weapons charges.

The two are also wanted in North Carolina, where they are accused of shooting a security officer in Greensboro, Gentile said.