Inmate on the run after escaping N.B. jail, public warned

A 35-year-old inmate who climbed a fence in and escaped from the provincial jailhouse in Shediac is allay on the free, young Brunswick RCMP said Friday.

Todd John Lewis escaped from Southeast Regional Correctional Centre, about 25 kilometres northeast of Moncton, at about 5:20 p.m. Thursday and ran off toward nearby Route 15, police said.

"We believe that he's either still located in that area, or possibly the greater Moncton area since he has contacts in that region," Cpl. Hans Ouellette, media relations officer with the New Brunswick RCMP, said in an interview.

Police advised anyone who sees Lewis not to approach him because he may be armed and dangerous. They also asked the public not to pick up hitchhikers and to report anything suspicious to RCMP.

Lewis is about five feet seven inches tall and 146 pounds and has blond hair and blue eyes, a release said. He was wearing blue pants, a brown coat and a black hat.

The escape was not reported to police until more than six hours after it happened, at almost 12:30 a.m., and police issued a release to the public around 10:45 a.m. On Friday.

"All I can say, in reference to that, is as soon as we were advised, as I said, at 12:28 a.m., we immediately started searching for the individual — that was our priority at the time," Ouellette said.

It wasn't clear how much time had elapsed before the jail realized Lewis had escaped.

A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, which is in charge of provincial jails, said Lewis's disappearance was "confirmed during routine procedures."

"Staff immediately activated established security protocols and notified the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," Jadesola Emmanuel said in an email statement.

Police issue warning about escaped inmate

Originally, police said no Alert Ready message would be sent unless there was "new information concerning the risk to the public," but an emergency alert was sent throughout New Brunswick at 12:19 p.m.

"Due to the length of time this incident has been ongoing, the NB RCMP has issued an Alert Ready message for the Province of New Brunswick," said an updated release from RCMP.

Ouellette said that the delay in sending an alert was mainly because police had to determine whether one was warranted in this case.

"It's important to remember that investigators need time, and no investigator can know everything of a situation immediately," he said.

"We have to investigate who's responsible … determine whether that person could be at a risk to others and to what extent. Given that, we were able to determine that it met the criteria, and we issued that alert."

RCMP said air patrols and police dog teams may be spotted in Shediac and surrounding areas as the search for Lewis continues.

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