Over 30 Juveniles Escape from Tennessee Detention Center
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — A number of “students” at the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center escaped from their dorm on Monday night, fleeing from the detention center.
According to Rob Johnson, Communications Director for the Tennessee Department of Child Services, 32 of the teens, aged 14 to 17, were able to climb under the anti-climb chain-linked fence at around 11 p.m. At least some of the juveniles have felonies on their records.
Johnson said that the escape occurred during a shift change. “As the staff were trying to get the youth back into the dorms and out of the yard, they realized that some of them had managed to pull up a fence and crawl underneath it,” he said Tuesday morning.
Many of the teens had histories that included aggravated burglary or robbery, theft, violent crimes including robbery or assault, among other legal issues.
The Metro Nashville Police and the Tennessee Highway Patrol are searching the surrounding neighborhood for the escaped children.
By 11 a.m. ET, all but eight of the teens had been captured or had surrendered. Johnson said he was confident that all of the escapees would be found.
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