Authorities search for teen who escaped from Multi

CANTON TWP. ‒ A teen escapee is on the run after he scaled a barbed wire fence, stole a vehicle and fled the Mutli-County Juvenile Correction System Thursday afternoon, investigators said.

The 15-year-old remains on the lam as authorities in Stark and Franklin counties search for the teen, a Columbus-area resident.

According to a report from the Stark County Sheriff's Office, authorities were notified around 3:35 p.m. Thursday of an escaped juvenile from the Faircrest community corrections facility at 815 Faircrest St SW.

During an outside group session, the boy ran toward and climbed the security fence to access the top of an adjacent building, the report said. The youth jumped to the ground and ran toward Faircrest Street SW.

While deputies were looking for the juvenile, they received word a vehicle had been stolen from the 800 block of Weaver Street SW, which they believed was taken by the teen.

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Multi-County Juvenile Attention System Director James McKenzie is shocked the youth could pull himself up the barbed wire fence, which is at least 12 feet high.

"That fence has been up for eight years and I have never seen this in my lifetime," he said. "I'm disappointed, upset and bothered by it, but I don't know what more we could have done. If a kid is going to grab barbed wire, I question his pain threshold."

The fencing, he said, never drew red flags from those inspecting the facility. He plans to replace the barbed wire. Razor wire features razor-like edges at close intervals while barbed wire has fewer sharp edges.

Authorities said the escaped youth told another teen earlier in the day he planned to escape during group session.

The owner of the stolen vehicle's cellphone remained in the stolen car and indicated it was in Bolivar.

Deputies alerted Franklin County and Columbus police departments that the teen may be heading to his home in the Columbus area. Authorities checked his home address but did not find him there.

McKenzie said the youth had held at the facility for about two weeks, serving time for for carrying a concealed weapon. The youth now faces an additional charge of felony escape.

In December, a 17-year-old walked out of the facility. He was arrested early the next day.

"The last escape was our fault, this one isn't," McKenzie said.

Multi-County Juvenile Attention is a regional juvenile justice campus that oversees several operations: A group home, a residential treatment center, and the community corrections facility for juvenile crime offenders.

Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or [email protected].

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