Fugitives break from jails in Logan, Delaware counties

Fugitives break from jails in Logan, Delaware counties <br><br>Separate jail breaks in Logan and Delaware counties forced Oklahoma authorities to hunt for eight fugitives today. <br><br>Two men escaped

Monday, April 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Fugitives break from jails in Logan, Delaware counties

Separate jail breaks in Logan and Delaware counties forced Oklahoma authorities to hunt for eight fugitives today.

Two men escaped before 11 p.m. Sunday from the Logan County jail in Guthrie.

Nine broke out of a Delaware County jail in Jay about 12:30 a.m. today, a spokesman for the Delaware County sheriff said.

A Logan County Sheriff's Department spokesman said Toby Trusdale, 43, and Keith Brown, 17, were missing from the jail in Guthrie.

At 9:40 p.m., both men asked a jailer for an aspirin. The jailer was reportedly booking another inmate and discovered the men missing a short time later.

The two were thought to have escaped through an air vent with assistance from someone outside the jail.

Officers from four agencies searched the area but did not find the men.

Trusdale was charged with a methamphetamine-related offense. Brown had been jailed on a count of intent to kill.

The inmates in Jay overpowered the jailer and locked him in a cell, the spokesman said.

Three of the inmates were caught shortly after the escape.

But six inmates, four men and two women, remained at-large. Sheriff Jim Earp said all are considered dangerous and possibly armed.

The fugitives were identified as Contessa Elaine Alexander, 27; Anita Kaye James, 27; Michael Lee Lone Wolf, 31; Max Wayne Nofire, 40; Dallas Leon Thompson, 33; Cody Nathaniel Willcoxson, 20.

Officials said the inmates had been held on an array of charges, including burglary and drug counts. One of the escapees already was facing escape charges.

Last year, Willcoxson and another inmate were accused of using toothbrushes to chisel away concrete to escape through a ceiling crawl space in the county's old jail. That escape followed a breakout involving five inmates, who all were later recaptured.

The latest escape also came from the aging jail. A new lockup is under construction.