| Inmate escapes, then captured, in Baker City |
|
|
 |
|
|
For Immediate Release: December 9, 2006
Contact: Perrin Damon, 503-945-0925
Inmate escapes, then captured, in Baker City
A minimum-custody inmate escaped last night from Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City and was captured just hours later outside a former missionary training facility next to the minimum-security prison.
Inmate William Paul Tulenko, 35, escaped at approximately 10:30 Friday evening, December 8, by getting a running start and dodging through a pedestrian-access gate that was closing after officers reporting for work had just passed through. One officer, who used his body to block the gate, was slightly injured as the inmate hurled himself through. Other officers gave chase but were unable to catch him in the dark.
Tulenko was captured shortly after 1 a.m. outside the neighboring facility that used to be a missionary training center but is now mostly vacant. Preliminary reports indicate that Tulenko was apprehended by a deputy sheriff with assistance from a correctional officer as he attempted to steal a car. He was immediately transported to the nearby Baker County Jail.
Tulenko was incarcerated in July 2004 and was serving time on Washington County convictions of burglary and coercion. He was one of the prison's 95 minimum-custody general population inmates, having been assigned there in late November. His earliest release date was November 2008.
Powder River Correctional Facility is a small 286-bed minimum-security state prison located in an industrial area on the outskirts of Baker City. Because it houses low-risk inmates, 178 of whom are participating in alcohol and drug treatment programs, it does not use a sally-port system of gates found in higher security prisons (sally ports have two gates, and only one can be opened at a time). The gate through which Tulenko escaped is opened and closed by a mechanical arm operated remotely from the prison's control center.
The property next door where Tulenko was suspected of hiding out is known as the New Tribes facility and has several buildings that are mostly vacant. Because of the likelihood that the fugitive would hide there, correctional officers immediately established a perimeter and assisted law enforcement officers in a systematic search.
Law enforcement agencies that responded included the Baker County Sheriff's Department, the Baker City Police and the Oregon State Police. The Oregon State Police will lead the criminal investigation.
|
|
|
|
