Update: Police Catch Juveniles Who Overpowered Driver, Escaped from Jail Van

By Kimberly Lenz Thursday, May 19, 2011

York County sheriff's officers have apprehended two juveniles who escaped from police custody Thursday after they overpowered an officer taking them from the York-Poquoson Courthouse to the Merrimac Juvenile Detention Facility. Police picked up the pair - 17-year-old Tara Blair and 15-year-old Kaleil Harris - around 6:30 p.m. after an alert citizen called 911 to report they were walking along Runaway Lane near the Edgehill neighborhood off Route 17, across from York High School. Captain Jim Richardson of the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office said both suspects ran when they saw police, who gave chase. Harris was caught first, and Blair was caught about five minutes later behind a Route 17 motel.

They face felony charges of escape by force, assault and battery and larceny.

Both Blair and Harris had been in court Thursday morning for a hearing on felony property charges. At about 12:30 p.m., while on their way back to the Merrimac facility on Crawford Road near the tour road overpass, one of the juveniles was able to crawl through a partition that separates the driver from those in custody and overpower the driver.

Both subsequently escaped.

When police apprehended them, both were wearing the same clothing as they'd been in at the time of their escape. Blair wore a black shirt, black jeans and sandals and Harris was wearing a blue and black plaid shirt with a white T-shirt underneath, blue jeans and black and white tennis shoes.

Richardson said the two were unarmed; they were the only passengers in the van when they escaped. The driver, a transportation officer for the Merrimac Center, was unhurt.

The escape put nearby Yorktown Middle School on lockdown for about 40 minutes. Students were told to stay in their rooms, which were locked, and away from the windows as a helicopter buzzed nearby. Richardson said the school was locked down as a precautionary measure to be sure the escapees didn't try to enter the school and blend in with students. Dismissal occurred as usual, without incident, and YMS Principal Candi Skinner alerted parents to the lockdown in an automated phone call around 2:15 p.m. She assured parents that all children were safe.

The York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office tactical team was in the midst of a training session and able to initiate the search. An auxiliary officer's helicopter was put in the air, and state police dogs were on the ground to help in the search.

Richardson said while the suspects are juveniles and usually not identified, police chose to release both their names and photographs to help in their apprehension.