Jan. 1—An inmate at the Cass County Detention Center was caught shortly after escaping the facility on Sunday, according to a press release from Cass County Sheriff Ed Schroder.

Cass County Corrections Officers notified Cass County Central Dispatch of an escaped inmate at 12:12 p.m. An investigation found a corrections officer was supervising an inmate worker taking trash to the dumpster on the south side of the facility. Another inmate worker, 25-year-old Gerardo Grimaldo Perez, of Logansport, was hidden in the ceiling and was able to climb over a wall to escape through the door where the workers were exiting with the trash.

Logansport Police Officers and Cass County Deputies converged in the area while corrections officers gave chase eastbound from the facility. The inmate removed his jail clothes in the 400 block of North Street. He continued eastbound and was apprehended in the 700 block of Market Street without incident at 12:21 PM.

Perez was initially incarcerated for a probation violation warrant on a Level 6 Felony for check fraud. He was due to be released on this cause on February 22, 2024. Perez is also facing 15 counts of fraud, a theft charge and a resisting law enforcement charge in Clinton County. The fraud cases were filed in Clinton Circuit Court on Nov. 28.

“The Cass County Detention Center is a secure facility,” Schroder said. “This incident will trigger scrutiny of all policies and practices as well as an after-action review and discussion to ensure any deficiencies are corrected to prevent another occurrence.

“The quick capture of the inmate was a result of the cooperative efforts of the Logansport Police Department, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and Cass County Detention Facility Corrections Officers.”

Agencies assisting the Cass County Sheriff’s Office were the Logansport Police Department and Cass County Central Dispatch.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 574-753-7800.