Inmates Escape from Pearl River County Jail on Monday

Published 8:10 pm Wednesday, August 29, 2007

One inmate has been recaptured and one was still at large Tuesday after an escape from the Pearl River County Jail late Monday night.

According to a press release from the sheriff’s department, Joshua Cole Frierson and Joseph Anthony Lorio escaped from the jail Monday night at approximately 11:30 p.m.

Frierson, a 25 year old state inmate who was being held to appear in court on charges of possession of burglary tools and aggravated assault, was apprehended Tuesday morning at around 10 a.m. in the Rustin Farms area.

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Lorio, who was charged with aggravated domestic violence, burglary, grand larceny and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, had not been Tuesday afternoon.

Maj. Aaron Russell of the Sheriff’s Department said in a phone interview Tuesday that Lorio should be considered dangerous.

“I don’t know if he’s armed himself at this point,” Russell said, “but I’m listing him as dangerous because of the (several felony) charges he had on him.”

The two inmates, who had been housed together for an undetermined period of time in the maximum security section of the jail, escaped by removing a cinder block from their cell wall and exiting through the hole. The maximum security section consists of several small cells, each of which houses two inmates, as opposed to the dormitory style cells in the general population.

Russell said the cinder block was one of regular size, approximately one foot wide by eight inches high.

“At this point, we don’t know how the block was removed. We’re trying to find out,” Russell said. “We’ve dealt with smaller holes in the wall before, but never a whole block.”

Russell said he believed anyone who had enough time and who could obtain the correct tools could get through the wall, but he said he did not know what tools Frierson and Lorio had used for the escape, nor was he certain how long the inmates had been in the cell. Russell did say Lorio’s charges stemmed from February of 2006, but he was uncertain as to whether Lorio had been in the jail since that time.

The release stated the two inmates were first spotted running away from the jail Monday night by a corrections officer who was making an outside check of the jail. The inmates were running towards the wood line, and were approximately 200 yards away from the jail at the time they were spotted, Russell said. The officer ran on foot to the spot where he had seen the running figures, but was unable to find anyone after a search of the area, Russell said. At that point, a head count of prisoners was conducted and it was determined that Frierson and Lorio had escaped.

Lorio is a 27 year old white male, five feet seven inches tall, and weighs 180 pounds. He has brown hair, green eyes, and tattoos on both arms. His last known address was 1238 Rock Ranch Rd., the release states.

Anyone with any information about Lorio’s whereabouts is asked to contact dispatch at the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department at 601-795-2241.