Juveniles attacked guard, choked him unconscious before escaping from Hastings detention center

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The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office released bodycam footage Thursday that shows when deputies located and took back into custody four juveniles who had escaped from a facility in Hastings.

Deputies said they received 911 calls Monday morning from the Deep Creek Youth Academy in Hastings regarding “numerous” juvenile inmates who had escaped from the facility.

According to SJSO, the juveniles involved in the escape were committed to the detention center based on several offenses including possession of a firearm on school property, battery on a school employee, felony battery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and other charges.

Deputies said two of the inmates attacked a guard with a sock that had a shower head and a makeshift “knife/shank.” Then, they “overpowered him, choked him to unconsciousness and took his keys and portable communications radio.”

Officials said those two inmates were joined by three others to begin their escape from the facility. However, one of them did not make it off campus.

The escape prompted the deployment of multiple law enforcement resources to the area, including SJSO K9 Bane and Depuy Robert Neigebauer, according to SJSO.

Bodycam footage shows the moment when K9 Bane was able to locate the juveniles, who were inside a parked car approximately 2 miles from the facility, ultimately leading to their arrest.

All four inmates were taken into custody and transported to the St. Johns County Jail.

Detectives charged the inmates with several crimes including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, robbery with a weapon, battery by strangulation and 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,” Sheriff Rob Hardwick wrote in a statement. “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.”

The guard was treated by St. Johns County Fire Rescue and is expected to recover from his injuries, deputies said.