AMITE, La. (AP) - The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office is searching for an inmate who escaped early Thursday from a St. Tammany Parish work release program and abducted a woman from her Covington job.
Sheriff Daniel Edwards said Christopher Ricker, 35, last was seen traveling on Highway 442 in Loranger, his hometown. Edwards said Ricker crashed a 1999 blue Toyota Camry into a tree near Cherokee Beach, got out and then jumped into the Tangipahoa River. He then was seen heading east on foot, the sheriff said.
NOLA.com ’ The Times-Picayune reports (https://bit.ly/PxlEen ) Ricker left the Covington-based Northshore Workforce facility at about 4 a.m. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain’s office said Ricker apparently kidnapped the woman - his girlfriend - from a convenience store immediately after the escape.
Deputies spotted Ricker shortly after the woman reported the abduction. She was ordered out of the car in Hammond, Edwards said. Ricker crashed the car after a short pursuit, he said.
Edwards said sheriff’s deputies have surrounded the area and have canines on the ground. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office sent a helicopter and search and rescue teams to assist in the search, Strain’s office said.
Covington police and the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections also are looking for Ricker.
Ricker is at least the third inmate in a three-week period to escape or walk away from the Northshore Workforce facility.
On Feb. 25, Bill Stites walked away from a job site near Franklinton. He was found two days later after St. Tammany Parish deputies got a tip he was walking to a home near Slidell. He was arrested and booked with simple escape.
A week before that, Joshua Ponseti left his work release job site in Mandeville, broke into his ex-girlfriend’s house and assaulted her before he returned to work. Ponseti was booked with aggravated burglary.
On Feb. 23, the state Department of Corrections searched Northshore Workforce after allegations of non-compliance within the facility were raised. As a result, 19 inmates were arrested for a variety of offenses, including failed drug tests and having contraband in the facility.
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Information from: The Times-Picayune, https://www.nola.com
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