Yakima County Jail Uncovers Escape Plot

Yakima County Jail guards seized more than 30 feet of rope fashioned from bed sheets and discovered a light fixture leading to a crawl space below the jail’s roof which appeared to have been tampered with.

The ropes were discovered Sunday during a shakedown of a maximum-security unit that housed 17 inmates, jail spokesman Ken Rink said.

“These guys can get pretty ingenious. They are very clever, and they have nothing but time to sit around and think of things like this,” Rink said.

The seizure took place in one of two cellblocks where inmates escaped last June by pounding through the ceiling and making their way through a crawlspace to the roof, where they used knotted sheets to slide four stories down to freedom.

Four escaped, but one was left behind after falling when the rope broke.