St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Press Release Re: Capture of Escaped Juvenile Inmates
October 14, 2024: SJSO K9 locates four juvenile inmates who escaped the facility.
On the morning of October 14, 2024, SJSO received 911 calls from the Deep Creek Youth Academy in Hastings regarding numerous juvenile inmates who had escaped from the facility. Deep Creek Youth Academy is a secure detention center operated by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice which houses male juvenile offenders who have been committed by court order due to crimes they have committed in the state. The offenders involved in this escape were committed to the detention center based on numerous offenses including Possession of a Firearm on School Property; Battery on a School Employee; Felony Battery; Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer; Grand Theft Auto; Armed Burglary to a Dwelling; Robbery with a Weapon; Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon; Aggravated Battery Causing Bodily Harm/Disability; and Battery.
(2) of the inmates attacked a guard with a blunt weapon (sock containing a shower head) and an edged weapon (makeshift knife/shank), overpowered him, choked him to unconsciousness, and took his keys and portable communications radio. Those inmates were joined by (3) others and they began their escape, (1) of the inmates did not make it off campus. The guard was treated by St. Johns County Fire Rescue and will recover from his injuries.
Due to the nature of their original charges and the severity of the attack on the guard, a tremendous amount of law enforcement resources were deployed to area, including SJSO K9 Bane and Deputy Robert Neigebauer. K9 Bane led a team of deputies to a vehicle approximately 2 miles from the facility where all (4) inmates were discovered inside. They were taken into custody and transported to the St. Johns County Jail. SJSO Detectives charged the inmates with the following crimes:
-Aggravated battery with a deadly weapon
-Robbery with a weapon
-False imprisonment
-Battery by strangulation
-Aggravated assault with an intent to commit a felony
-Unlawful use of a two-way communications device
-Escape from a residential commitment facility
“This was a first-class operation to protect our citizens conducted by numerous SJSO personnel from several divisions and units and I am proud to be their Sheriff. Thank you to our law enforcement partners from surrounding agencies who immediately responded to assist our staff. I have been in contact with the Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, and we will work together to ensure this does not happen again. The message is clear: we will not tolerate this in our community, and we will respond in force to protect our citizens. These inmates picked the wrong county.” -Sheriff Rob Hardwick
SJSO would like to thank our law enforcement partners who responded to the incident to assist: St. Augustine Police Department; Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office; Flagler County Sheriff’s Office; Putnam County Sheriff’s Office; Clay County Sheriff’s Office; and Florida Highway Patrol.