DEVILS LAKE -- Jail administration in Devils Lake is investigating its third reported case of escape by an inmate from the facility in two years.
Staff at the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center realized on Thursday evening that Seth Allen Suko, 25 of Devils Lake, was missing. He was recaptured by the Devils Lake Police Department early Friday morning, according to a news release. It’s unclear how he allegedly escaped the multi-county jail, and LEC Director Rob Johnson has asked the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation to assist in the investigation.
“Please allow me and my team time to investigate this incident, and I will share more information once our investigation has concluded,” Johnson wrote in an email.
Suko initially was booked into the jail June 27 on several misdemeanor charges out of Eddy County, including fleeing a police officer, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also faces misdemeanor charges in Foster and Stutsman counties. He is awaiting trial on almost a dozen charges.
Staff at the jail noticed Suko was missing about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the release. Warning the public not to approach him, the LEC said Suko was a registered sex offender and had a history of running from law enforcement. The sex offender status dates back to two gross sexual imposition charges in 2013 to which he pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor.
ADVERTISEMENT
He was recaptured about 1:30 a.m. Friday in a downtown Devils Lake apartment, Detective Susan Schwab said. Though he initially wouldn’t come out of the apartment, he eventually walked into the hallway and was apprehended without incident, Schwab added.
“He did not resist,” she said. “He was totally cooperative.”
Charges are pending and have not been filed in court as of Friday morning.
Previous escapes Most of the LEC inmates charged with escape tend to be “walkaways” -- prisoners who are released on furlough who don’t return by their designated time. However, this is the third reported escape by an inmate from within the LEC in roughly two years.
Wesley E. Brown III is serving time in federal prison after escaping the jail in March 2013 with the help of former correctional officer Rachel Marie Chepulis. Law enforcement caught up with them several weeks later in Oregon.
Another prisoner, Kenneth James Eagleman, pleaded guilty to using a steel grate to break a window at the LEC before climbing out of it in April 2016. He was found a week later.
The two incidents made U.S. Marshals Service reconsider housing prisoners at the jail, but a review of the LEC’s security convinced the federal agency the jail was secure enough.
The LEC started housing federal prisoner in the fall. As of Friday, 24 of the 91 prisoners at the facility were listed as U.S. Marshals inmates.
ADVERTISEMENT
“While we never want to have an incident of this nature, we are happy that it was resolved peacefully and that he is back in custody,” Johnson wrote in the email.
There was another case of escape in early January from within the LEC building. Derek William Stanley of Devils Lake pleaded guilty to running from a BCI agent and out the LEC doors.
He technically wasn’t an LEC inmate at the time, however. Stanley had just been arrested after being questioned at the facility about a drug deal. He was being taken to the jail portion of the building when he ran and wasn’t booked until after the escape.
A previous version of this story stated that Suko escaped on Thursday.
