ST JAMES, Minn. — An inmate who escaped from the Watonwan County Jail is back in custody after being arrested Wednesday.
Sheriff's officials said Leonardo Lopez, 36, escaped from custody in St. James, Minn. just before 7 p.m. Monday. Then on Wednesday, authorities located and stopped a vehicle that Lopez was in. He ran on foot into a field, where deputies, St. James police officers and a K-9 unit from New Ulm took him into custody without further incident.
Four additional people were taken into custody and could face charges for assisting him. Lopez was taken back to the Watonwan County jail and he will face additional charges for his escape.
MPR News reports that Lopez was convicted in 2005 at age 18 of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a victim who was more than two years younger. The conviction required him to register as a sex offender.
Court records show that Lopez was charged in November 2022 with failing to update his address on the state’s sex offender registry. He also allegedly ran from St. James police on Aug. 8 when an officer tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant.
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