Police: 4 Inmates Escape from South Carolina Jail, 1 Caught Breaking into Cars

A manhunt is underway for three South Carolina inmates after four escaped on Monday, with one of the men being caught after allegedly breaking into several cars and a home about 80 miles away.

Emanuel Robson Planco, Anton Conway Bennett, Kyonne Marquise McLeod and De’Shawn Malik Fox, escaped from the Chesterfield County Detention Center, the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office said:

The men are accused of kicking down a steel door to exit the jail at 11:00 p.m., though their absence was not noticed until correctional officers did a headcount early on Tuesday morning, Fox 8 reported.

“It was not detected until about 5:30 this morning when they went to do a hard count the[y] do hard camp twice a day. So, they had a five to six-hour head start on us and that affected how we respond to our manhunt, so to speak,” Sheriff Cambo Streater told the outlet.

He suspects that the escapees had help escaping and getting transport.

Planco was arrested two days later, after Richland County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of someone breaking into cars in Columbia on Thursday morning, WIS10 reported.

Upon arrival to the 1400 block of Willow Oak Drive — about an hour and a half drive from the jail — a Richland K-9 handler allegedly witnessed Planco breaking into a Kia.

After he began driving away, cops deployed stop sticks in front of the stolen vehicle and the suspect fled on foot before being caught by a K-9 unit dog, officials told the outlet.

After his arrest, deputies realized he was one of the escaped inmates from Chesterfield and further determined that he had also allegedly attempted to break into a home and steal a bicycle that morning when the homeowner fired a warning shot into the air, causing him to flee. 

He then allegedly broke into at least three other cars in the same neighborhood, making away with a PlayStation 4, multiple credit cards, and IDs.

Planco has since been charged with failure to stop for blue lights and siren, reckless driving, possession of a stolen vehicle, grand larceny, first degree burglary, and financial transaction card theft.

He was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, and awaits additional charges for escaping from the Chesterfield jail. 

Bennett, McLeod, and Fox are still on the loose. 

According to Sheriff Streater, only five officers are tasked with watching over 130 inmates at Chesterfield — but he is confident that the other three escapees will be found and receive longer sentences. 

“If you have any information on any of these individuals, Sheriff Cambo Streater asks that you contact the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 843-287-0235,” the sheriff’s office statement said. “This is an on-going investigation, and no additional information will be released at this time.”