Louisiana State Police are continuing to investigate a bizarre incident that occurred last Monday when Washington Parish Jail inmate was critically injured after jumping out of a Bogalusa Police Department transport vehicle.
The incident occurred at approximately 2 p.m. on Highway 10 near the intersection with Choctaw Road, in the center of Washington Parish.
According to law enforcement sources, the inmate had been picked up at the Washington Parish jail earlier in the day and transported to Bogalusa for a court appearance.
After the court appearance, the inmate was being returned to the jail in a Bogalusa Police Department transport vehicle.
Officials were mum on how the restrained inmate managed to escape from the vehicle, but it apparently occurred as the transport vehicle was moving at a “highway speed”, according to a law enforcement source.
The 911 dispatcher received a call about the escape attempt. Callers reported that a man in an orange jail jumpsuit was unconscious and lying in the roadway.
EMS personnel took the severely injured inmate to the emergency room at Riverside Medical Center in Franklinton. After initial treatment he was transported by helicopter to North Oaks hospital in Hammond, where he was admitted in critical condition.
The Bogalusa Police Department did not release the name of the injured inmate and no information was provided as to how an inmate was able to exit a moving transport vehicle.
A spokesman for the Louisiana State Police said a full report on the incident will be released when the investigation is completed.
