US Marshals Issue Warning After 2 Violent Felons Escape: 'They Pose a Significant Threat'
A search for two potentially dangerous men who escaped from a Virginia correctional facility a week ago now has authorities looking for help from the public.
The U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release Wednesday that Jabar Taylor, 20, and Rashad Williams, 18, assaulted a guard at the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Chesterfield County, near Richmond, on July 13.
The U.S. Marshals Service’s Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force is asking for the public’s assistance in finding two violent felons who escaped from the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Chesterfield County, Virginia, July 13: https://t.co/53MdnSor2Z pic.twitter.com/MgS2wNJl5e
— U.S. Marshals (@USMarshalsHQ) July 16, 2020
Both men, who were being held after allegedly committing violent crimes, exited the facility through a hole in a fence and left the area in a getaway car.
The pair stayed at a hotel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, days after escaping, and were also spotted in an area grocery store, according to a news release from the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
U.S. Marshals said the men are to be considered dangerous, and they need help catching them.
“The danger posed by these fugitives and their escape should not be taken lightly by anyone,” Nick E. Proffitt, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement.
“The fugitives went to great lengths to affect the escape, and they pose a significant threat to any law enforcement officer or member of the public who may encounter them,” he said.
A reward of up to $5,000 for each fugitive is being offered for information that would lead to an arrest.
According to the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Taylor and Williams might be headed to Delaware, Washington, Maryland, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York or North Carolina, or they could be headed back to Virginia, where they have “significant ties.”
Authorities also believe they are likely still together, but they have not ruled out the possibility that the two men have separated.
Taylor has already been convicted on two counts of second-degree murder and aggravated malicious assault, the U.S. Marshals news release said.
Williams, meanwhile, was convicted of malicious wounding and robbery.
Taylor and Williams both are described as black males weighing approximately 140 pounds.
Taylor is 5 feet 9, while Williams is 5 feet 7.
The Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center is described as “a 284-capacity facility serving an all male population typically age 14-20 who have been committed by the juvenile court. Residents placed at the facility have been adjudicated of crimes ranging from misdemeanors to felonies. Residents receive mental health and rehabilitative counseling services.”
WHTM-TV reported authorities have made three arrests regarding the brazen escape.
Two employees at Bon Air have been arrested for helping the fugitives escape, and a family member of one of the men is also in custody.
Now, police need help catching Taylor and Williams.
If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of the men, you are asked to please call the Marshals Service at (877) 926-8332.
You can also submit tips online at the Marshals Service’s website.
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