By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A Green Hill School inmate escaped yesterday while on a field trip for his graduation ceremony in Seattle.
The 18-year-old was one of three students who traveled to the West Seattle campus of South Seattle Community College following the successful completion of a 14-week vocational program, according to a spokesperson from the state Department of Social and Health Services.
Mindy Chambers said it was about 10 a.m., before the event began, and he was on the phone purportedly with his mother, trying to give her directions to get there.
“They were standing outside and a gray Volvo pulled up,” Chambers said. “He got in the backseat, laid down and it sped off.”
Staff called 911 immediately to report the escape, she said.
Green Hill School in Chehalis is a medium and maximum secure facility for older juvenile boys incarcerated for felonies and operated by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, under the state Department of Social and Health Services.
Chambers wouldn’t disclose his name, hometown or the crime he was locked up for citing policies for the juvenile institution.
A warrant for his arrest for escape has been issued, she said.
The young man had already received his certificate of completion from the program – called the Job Readiness to Employment Project – and was set to be released from Green Hill sometime between August and November, according to Chambers. The length of time he’d been incarcerated wasn’t immediately available.
The trio were accompanied by two security officers and a program manager.
He was so close to becoming employed, and now things have changed, she said.
“Our next step would have been to place him with an employer,” Chambers said. “Instead he made the decision he did, and now he will be charged as an adult.”