moodboard/Thinkstock(CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla.) — Three inmates are at large after they broke out of a Florida jail, apparently by exiting through the ceiling of the jail’s law library, the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office said.
The three inmates — Joel Teraill Cooper, Donald James Cotterman and Casey Martina Brandon — escaped from the Wakulla County jail in the Florida Panhandle at 12:09 a.m. today, the sheriff’s office said.
“We have no indication that these individuals are armed but because they are escaped inmates they are considered dangerous,” the sheriff’s office said.
While the investigation into the escape is ongoing, the sheriff’s office said “preliminary evidence shows that the inmates were able to gain access through a breach of the ceiling in our Law Library.”
The inmates then apparently “made their way across the building above the ceiling to an exit point where they made their escape,” the sheriff’s office said.
Cotterman, 44, is a registered sex offender, who is charged with burglary, criminal mischief and weapon possession, the sheriff’s office said. Brandon, 25, is charged with burglary, theft, vehicle theft and criminal mischief. Cooper, 43, is charged with burglary of a business, the sheriff’s office said.
“We have a large force working non-stop until we locate these escaped inmates,” the sheriff’s office said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 850-745-7100 or 850-926-0800.
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