Orangeburg, SC (WLTX) - Officials believe an electrical short led to a jailbreak at the Orangeburg County Detention Center that allowed three inmates--two of whom are charged with murder--to escape out into the community.
Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young spoke for the first time Monday about the situation that led to the escape of 20-year-old Curtis Ray Green, 27-year-old Tyshon Demontrea Johnson, and 27-year-old Christopher Shannon Boltin Saturday night.
A fourth inmate was part of the jailbreak, but was captured before making it past the fence.
Boltin was found in Lexington County late Sunday. Johnson and Green--who were both behind bars on murder charges--remain at large.
News 19 has learned that Boltin's father, Hoyt Boltin, will be charged as an accessory after the fact in the escape.
Young says on the night of the escape, there was an electrical short which compromised the jail's security.
“They took advantage of a situation," Young says. "We had an electrical short in the panel. It did what it was designed to do. When that electrical short happened, it released the locks within that pod, like they’re supposed to do."
The officer was in that control area tried to stop the inmates and corral them back in.
"The ones who had ill intent took advantage of the situation," Young said. "Four of them overpowered him .This guy put his life on the line, he was beaten and they were able to get his mace away from him and in the face of having been maced, still put up enough of a fight to make sure no one else was able to get away.”
Young said the inmates then used their bed sheets to climb over the barbed wire fencing outside the facility.
"They had access to their bedding and stuff, so they snatched sheets and stuff out of their pod to throw across the wire to help get across the wire," he said. "With all of the construction they ducked through one area and hit the wood line and probably got to the railroad tracks and probably just ran from there."
Despite the unplanned electrical problem, Sheriff Leroy Ravenell was planned by the inmates.
Young says he believe the aging jail, which was built back in 1976, played a role in the allowed the inmates Currently, a new multi-million facility is being built right behind the old one.
Related: Orangeburg County Getting New Jail
“Had we been in the new facility, they would not have got out of the interior," Young said.
Meanwhile, the sheriff wants the public to be aware that these two dangerous suspects are out there.
"We advise people to just be vigilant," Ravenell said. "We know these individuals are dangerous, we hope they are not armed at this time...'we have no way of knowing how far they've gotten," but they are searching the local area, throughout the state and even outside the state based on leads they have received."
Orangeburg deputies are being assisted in the search by the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety, the Elloree Police Department and representatives with the U.S. Marshals Service are assisting in the search efforts.
If you think you see the escapees or have any information about their whereabouts, deputies ask you to contact the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office immediately at (803) 534-3550 or call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. . Anyone who sees the men is urged to call 911 immediately.