CAPTURED: Two escaped Yakima County inmates caught weeks apart by Pacific Northwest Violent Offenders Task Force
CAPTURE UPDATE April 26, 2017 --
The Yakima County Sheriff's Office says the Pacific Northwest Violent Offenders Task Force arrested escaped inmate, Steven Roche, at a hotel in Thurston County early Wednesday morning.
The sheriff's office says the task force tracked him down after receiving information he was in the Thurston County area.
Roche has already been transported from Thurston County and booked back into the Yakima County Jail.
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CAPTURE UPDATE April 7, 2017:
Escaped Yakima County Jail inmate, Chad Tipton, was arrested in Olympia on Friday night thanks to the combined efforts from the U.S. Marshals Pacific NW Violent Offenders Task Force, Thurston County Sheriff's Office, WSP and Olympia Police.
A second escaped inmate, Steven Roche, is still on the loose.
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WANTED BY DOC IN YAKIMA COUNTY April 4, 2017 --
The hunt is on for two inmates -- one an accused shooter -- who the Department of Corrections says escaped from the Yakima County Correctional Center in Yakima on Tuesday morning.
Corrections officers believe the two inmates -- Chad Tipton and Steven Roche -- escaped through a faulty door leading from an inside recreational yard to the outside. Officers say the locking mechanism failed and have found it to fail repeatedly since testing it after the escape.
Both were being housed at the jail as contract prisoners from Kootenai County, Idaho.
Both are convicted felons.
Chad Tipton:
Tipton was in custody on Kootenai County, Idaho felony charges of for Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Battery and Possession of a Firearm as the result of an incident on December 15th in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho where Tipton was involved in a shooting. Chad Tipton has a tattoo of two clown masks on the right side of his neck under his right ear.
Steven Roche:
Roche was in custody on Kootenai County, Idaho felony charges for multiple counts of Burglary, Grand Theft and Forgery.
If you spot them, or know where they're hiding, call 911, The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office at (509) 574-2500 or 1-800-572-0490, or call an anonymous tip into Crime Stoppers at (509) 248-9980 or 1-800-248-9980, or on the internet at yakima.crimestoppersweb.com