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By Victoria St. Martin
The New Orleans Times-Picayune
LAPLACE, La. — An incarcerated LaPlace man had almost 12 hours of freedom after impersonating another man and walking out of jail before being recaptured, a St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman said Wednesday.
Gabriel King was arrested at his grandmother's house in the 200 block of Apricot Street after family members tipped off authorities Wednesday around 8:55 a.m.
Deputies had been searching for King, who was first arrested Monday on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, ever since he walked out of the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace on Tuesday evening, said Maj. Mike Tregre, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.
King assumed the identity of another man who was being released on bond Tuesday around 9:52 p.m., authorities said.
Tregre said a woman -- later identified as Erica Tuco, 19, of LaPlace -- came to the jail Tuesday night to make bond for a man who was being held for having a suspended driver's license. The man, who was not identified by authorities, and King were inside a holding cell. When the other man's name was called, King answered.
King signed paperwork and walked out of the jail with Tuco, Tregre said. He said Tuco later returned to the jail, acting as though she had been waiting and asked whether the man she came for was going to be released.
That's when deputies inside the jail realized the wrong man was released, Tregre said.
Authorities, who kept in touch with King's family throughout the night as they searched for him, booked Tuco with criminal mischief. She was being held in jail on a $5,000 bond.
Tregre said a machine used to identify inmates was down when King was released. King was also booked with criminal mischief and is being held in jail on a $12,850 bond.
The man King impersonated was released Wednesday at 11:40 a.m. Tregre said there is no evidence to suggest he was involved in the impersonation.
Copyright 2007 New Orleans Times-Picayune |
