Two Accused Murderers On The Run After South Carolina Jail Break

Two accused murderers are on the run after escaping from a South Carolina jail during an electrical failure, police say.

Tyshon Johnson and Curtis Green escaped from the Orangeburg County Detention Center late Saturday night, according to a press release by the County Sheriff in charge of the jail, Leroy Ravenall, who called the suspects "dangerous."

“Johnson and Green are each charged with murder,” the statement said.

A third inmate, Christopher Boltin, who faces carjacking and grand larceny charges, also managed to escape, but was caught on Sunday. Bolton’s father, Hoyte Boltin, tried to help his son evade authorities and also ended up getting arrested, according to The State, a South Carolina newspaper. The dad faces a felony charge of aiding an escapee, the sheriff said.

A fourth inmate, Tyree Hillard, was allegedly part of the jailbreak, but was captured before making it out of the jail. He faces two felony charges of aiding an escapee, Sheriff Ravenall said in a separate statement.

Boltin was on his way back to Orangeburg to await his court hearing, the sheriff said.

"We will now focus on the remaining two at large," he said.

The prison break began with an electrical failure, according to Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young, who told WISTV that the escapees took advantage of a “safety feature” that releases cell locks in the event of a power outage.

“Once it shorted, it allowed the pod area to release the door locks, like it's designed to, because if you have a fire or electrical something you don’t want people to perish by not being able to get out of those cells.” 

Once released from their cells, the escapees attacked a guard.

“It was a four-on-one scrap between one of the corrections officers,” Young said. “Overpowered him, maced him with his mace, and basically got to the other panel to unlock other series of areas. And then they ran back in the pod, grabbed sheets and stuff, ran back and took off and got to the outside.”

Once outside, they threw the bedding over the razor-wire topped fence that surrounds the jail, padding it, and completed their escape.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Johnson and Green were still at large.

Johnson allegedly shot a 24-year-old man to death during a September 2017 armed robbery, according to the Times and Democrat, a daily Orangeburg newspaper.

Green allegedly killed a man in March 2015, when he was a teenager, the newspaper reported. 

Green was also arrested in May 2015, when a vehicle he was traveling in with three other teens crashed after speeding away from a police checkpoint. That vehicle had been stolen, police said.

South Carolina police ask anyone with information on the whereabouts of Johnson or Green to immediately telephone the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office at 803-534-3550.

[Photo: Christopher Boltin, Tyshon Johnson, Curtis Green, courtesy of Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office]