Saskatchewan RCMP continue to search for an escaped inmate last seen in Yorkton, Sask., at 4 p.m., New Year’s Day.
During the 10 p.m., count at Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert, Sask., on Dec. 31, guards were short an inmate. Steven Briggs, 24, serving seven years and three months on assault and theft charges was unaccounted for. RCMP reported a day later that Briggs had stolen a Correctional Services Canada truck, described as a 2015 blue Dodge pickup.
Saskatchewan Penitentiary spokesman Darcy Begrand said Briggs was staying in the prison’s minimum security unit after a good track record during his sentence. Inmates staying in the minimum security unit understand the expectation of staying at the residence and not evading custody, Begrand said.
“They understand that they are to remain here and it’s a privilege to be here in this environment,” he said, adding it’s rare, considering how many inmates come through the unit, to see anyone walk away. According to CSC, Briggs is the second inmate in the minimum security unit to escape custody in 2018.
On Jan. 1, 2019 at around 4 p.m., Briggs was spotted with the CSC truck in the Yorkton area, about 330 kilometres east of Saskatoon.
Begrand said correctional vehicles aren’t readily accessible to inmates and he’s surprised Briggs was able to drive away in one.
“They are locked they are never left running, the keys aren’t left in them those things are controlled by staff,” Begrand said..
“Our parole officers work very closely with (inmates) so they’re very familiar with stressors and other things that may cause an inmate to want to leave so it’s always a surprise.”
Briggs was approaching the fifth year of his sentence. He was set to be released in 2022.
Beyond the sighting in Yorkton, RCMP say they haven’t been able to find him, but detachments across the province are on high alert.
“We don’t know where he’s heading, there are no ties he has to any particular area in Saskatchewan,” said RCMP Cpl. Rob King. “He could be anywhere at this point, he could be anywhere within driving distance.”
Briggs is described as about five-foot nine-inches tall and 157 pounds with tattoos on both hands and his left forearm.
