Update: The original version of this article reported Lorio's bond at $12,500, when in fact it is $125,000. The Era-Leader regrets the error.
Less than two weeks after a major New Orleans jail escape made national headlines, an attempted escape from the Washington Parish Jail failed.
According to the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, inmate James Lorio tried to escape from his cell late this past Monday night.
Lorio tried to crawl out of his cell through an overhead duct. However, his path out of the jail via the duct was blocked and he returned to his cell, where he was arrested by deputies for the attempted escape.
In addition to the duct being blocked, other inmates heard Lorio above them and alerted deputies.
So now, in addition to the other charges he was already facing, Lorio is charged with simple escape because he left his cell block.
A resident of Bogalusa, Lorio, age 50, was arrested and booked into the jail on May 14, charged by the Bogalusa Police Department with:
License plate expired; Resisting arrest by flight; No drivers license; Resisting an officer; Unsafe speed; Failure to use turn signal; Second degree battery; Battery of correctional facility employee.
He is being held on $125,000 bond awaiting trial.
Sheriff Jason Smith thanked the jail correctional officers on duty Monday night for their response to the attempted escape.
Smith said, “The number one way that we secure the jail is through the actions of the corrections officers who are charged with ensuring security and peace inside the facility. Our shift supervisors and leaders are the reason we don’t have some of the problems that we are seeing recently at the other jails in the area.”
