On Sunday night, the Dillingham Police Department scrambled to find a young incarcerate who slipped out and escaped the Dillingham jail. Jairus Nelson, 20, slid under the garage door of the jail a little before 9 p.m. and fled the premises wearing nothing but his underwear.
After slipping out from underneath the door, Nelson removed his jail clothing and ran across D Street before disappearing into the woods on the other side of the road. Despite wearing nothing but his underwear, Nelson managed to evade two Dillingham police officers by first hiding in the woods, then exiting the woods and jumping into a car at the Bristol Inn parking lot on Main Street. Nelson attempted to persuade the driver of the vehicle to drive away, but the uncooperative owner of the car snatched her keys from the ignition of the car and exited the vehicle, leaving a scantily-clad Nelson with nothing but a temporary shelter from the elements and no way out.
Nelson soon exited the car and ran towards another car in an attempt to try his luck at getting another ride to freedom. The next car was pulling into the Bristol Express convenience store parking lot when Nelson approached and attempted to get into the car in hopes of escape. Unfortunately for Nelson, the car belonged to Dillingham police officer Dan Decker, who was off-duty at the time and was driving with his family. Officer Decker recognized the nearly-naked escapee and held Nelson in temporary custody until other Dillingham police officers arrived on the scene to apprehend Nelson and take him back into custody.
"Nelson's escape attempt involved him running across the street from the police station, probably about 200 yards, and hiding in the woods before he started attempting to escape using other people's cars," said Dillingham Police Chief Dan Pasquariello. "He had stripped himself of everything except his underwear, including his shoes."
Pasquariello said that there hasn't been an attempted escape from the Dillingham jail in years, and that despite Nelson's best efforts to elude the officers, calling the incident a successful escape attempt may be a bit of an overstatement.
"The entire time that Nelson was outside of police custody was about two minutes," said Pasquariello. "Officer Decker was pulling into the convenience store parking lot when he saw Officer Maines running down the street towards him, which caught his eye immediately. Decker then saw a man running away from Maines in his underwear and recognized Nelson as someone who was supposed to be in jail. Officer Decker then exited his car and grabbed Nelson and held him against his personal vehicle until Maines caught up with them and was able to take Nelson back into custody."
Nelson was transported back to the Dillingham Jail, was given a new set of clothes, and was promptly charged with escape in the second degree, which is a class C felony. Nelson was originally being held at the jail on the charges of violating the conditions of release from his arrest in Koliganek. The original charges that landed Nelson on probation were burglary, theft and assault. No officers were injured during Nelson's temporary leave from police custody.
This story first appeared in The Bristol Bay Times/Dutch Harbor Fisherman and is republished here with permission.