Inmate escapes, steals race car and gets caught again

Herman Turlich steals race car and crashes it in a Louisiana ditch

On Tuesday, an inmate escaped from the Belle Chasse, Louisiana courthouse. He then led police on a wild chase.

Upon escaping from the court house, the man stole a race car. He then crashed said race car before running into the woods.

The car was stolen from a warehouse near Main Street. The inmate broke into the warehouse and drove it through the exit gates.

Around 4:45 p.m., police received a call about a race car speeding on public roads. At this point, the car was seen near Main Street and F. Edward Hebert Boulevard.

The car in question was a dirt oval race car. They’re specifically setup to turn better in one direction, left. And they aren’t great for straight lines or pavement either.

Needless to say, the man soon crashed the stolen race car. The race car landed in a ditch near Boulevard and Woodland Highway.

The police arrived at the seen moments after the crash. However, the escapee had already fled the scene. Witnesses pointed police in the direction of the woods as they saw the man exit the car and move in the direction of the trees.

Police went on a search in the woods. They were looking for 42-year-old Herman Turlich.

Around 7:15 p.m., police of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office found the man in the woods near the crash site.

Lt. Chaun Domingue

“We were able to put a nice perimeter in that area, where the subject was last seen, and we were able to nap him in an hour, hour-and-a-half later,” Lt. Chaun Domingue with the PPSO told WWL TV.

After reports of the news, officials were unclear how the man escaped the courthouse. There is a security team already in place to help avoid this type of situation.

“We are going to re-evaluate what happened in the court situation and we are going to make some safeguards to make sure inmates don’t get the opportunity to walk out, like what happened today,” Domingue said.

Herman Turlich will soon return to the courthouse to face the original burglary charges. Now, he’ll have additional charges dropped on his as well.

Categories

Tags