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The prison escape that wasn't

By JOHN FRANK
Published January 4, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: M. N. Golden] Sheriff's Deputy Tim Rowland, partner Tuck and Deputy Jon Payne search outside the Cypress Creek facility Wednesday. A search for two teenagers ended inside the fence of the juvenile facility.

LECANTO - A helicopter hovered above. Canine officers tracked through the woods. Checkpoints were in place. And dozens of sheriff's deputies swarmed the area near the Cypress Creek juvenile detention facility.

On Wednesday afternoon, the word was out: Two teenage inmates escaped from the maximum-security prison.

Except they didn't.

After an hour and a half of searching, the two missing inmates were found hiding - in the detention facility's compound.

Kendall Wayne Wilbanks, 15, of Leesburg and Gavin Alexander Eskdale, 17, of Kathleen in Polk County, picked a lock to gain access to the roof area of the woodworking shop, a separate building from the main facility inside the security fence.

The inmates were in the shop for an 11 a.m. class. But they were missing when the class ended and a head count took place at 12:06 p.m., according to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office.

A massive manhunt began, but deputies soon turned their attention back inside the facility after a check of the perimeter showed no breach of the fence.

At 2 p.m. the call went out on the radio. The juvenile inmates were discovered hiding in the ceiling by a canine unit and investigators.

During questioning, Wilbanks and Eskdale told authorities they planned to escape from the facility for several days before Wednesday's attempt. Both inmates were rated a Level 8 security risk on a scale in which 10 is the highest.

They told investigators they planned to hide in the roof area and wait until the area calmed down. Then they were going to attempt to escape by scaling the high outer fence ringed with barbed wire, reports state.

The teenagers were each charged with one count of attempting to escape, a second-degree felony. Both were originally incarcerated on burglary and larceny charges.

The escape attempt was the third in the past three years at Cypress Creek, a high-risk facility near County Road 491 and State Road 44 in central Citrus.

The facility is part of the Department of Juvenile Justice but is operated by G4S Youth Services, a private company based in the United Kingdom.

In November 2005, two inmates tried to escape during recreation and one succeeded. That led to four security guards getting suspended.

In March 2004, an inmate attempted to escape by climbing a fence in the recreation area but was caught. No corrective action was disclosed.

Cypress Creek officials did not return calls for comment Wednesday.

Sheriff Jeff Dawsy noted the facility's recent troubles but said he wasn't frustrated by the misplaced manhunt that had officers going door-to-door in some neighborhoods. He was just glad Wednesday's search ended well.

"They are Level 8 kids, which means they have a strong criminal history," Dawsy said. "We'd rather be safe than sorry."

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 860-7312.

[Last modified January 3, 2007, 19:54:12]