Florida teens allegedly stage fight to break out of juvenile center; manhunt underway

They allegedly overpowered staff members in the facility's control room.

July 21, 2019, 8:03 PM

Police in Florida are searching for a pair of teenagers who allegedly staged a fight to escape from juvenile jail over the weekend.

Authorities said four teens managed to escape from a juvenile justice facility in Jacksonville late Saturday night by staging an altercation in their dorm room and attacking staff members who tried to intervene.

The inmates -- identified as Tajah Bing, 16, Davionne Baldwin, 17, Tyjuan Monroe, 16, and Marcus Ledbetter, 17 -- then allegedly overpowered workers in the facility's control room and opened the front door, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

PHOTO: A Jacksonville Sheriff's car is pictured on Aug. 27, 2018, in Jacksonville, Fla., in this file photo.
A Jacksonville Sheriff's car is pictured on Aug. 27, 2018, in Jacksonville, Fla., in this file photo.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images, FILE

"[The] suspects then fought with staff in the control room and pushed buttons to release the front door," the office said in a statement. "Suspects dumped a staff member's purse onto the floor and stole her vehicle keys and took a staff issued cell phone."

The teens allegedly stole a worker's car keys, cell phone and purse, and fled in her vehicle, the office said.

It posted images of the teens and the stolen getaway vehicle -- a bronze, 4-door Infiniti Q50 with Florida license plate LANE19 -- on Twitter Sunday, asking the public to help with the search.

The sheriff's office said three of the teens, Ledbetter, Baldwin and Monroe, had been apprehended as of Sunday afternoon, but the other was still on the loose.

The four teens were originally being held at a Florida Department of Juvenile Justice facility on various charges.

Police are offering up to $3,000 for information leading to to the arrest of Bing and Bladwin.