Benton County inmate escapes from Kennewick jail — for 9 minutes
A Benton County inmate slipped out of the Kennewick jail for nine minutes Thursday afternoon.
Gerardo Uribe, 47, was working in the kitchen when he decided to take advantage of an open door, said Benton County Corrections Department Chief Scott Souza.
He hid in a nook and then walked past some construction contractors working on a courtroom renovation project shortly before 1:30 p.m.
The contractors realized that something was wrong and notified jail staff.
As they were doing that, Uribe scaled the fence, went into a nearby store and stole some clothes, said officials.
All of that was caught on high-resolution cameras, letting police and jail staff know which direction he went, Souza said.
He crossed Columbia Center Boulevard and was caught by police.
He was returned to the jail and faces possible new charges of escape and felony harassment.
Because Uribe was a trustee he was allowed more privileges inside of the jail.
“The Corrections Department wishes to thank the contractors on site for their quick actions in alerting corrections staff,” Souza said in the release.
He also thanked police for their fast response.
It’s the second Tri-Cities inmate to escape in less than a week. On Monday, Jose Carcamo, 32, escaped Franklin County jail by impersonating a different inmate who was set to be released.
Police found him seven hours later and he was returned to the Franklin County jail.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 6:13 PM.