Police looking for the latest inmate to escape

Quentin Brown failed to return to lockup from civilian job

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A convict who escaped from a transitional housing facility in Jacksonville was serving a year sentence for cocaine possession. He's the third work-release prisoner in Jacksonville to escape in recent months.

Quentin Brown, 49, failed to return from a job Tuesday evening. The other two escapees are back in custody and facing longer sentences after their escapes.

According to Florida statute, escape is a second-degree felony.

"It's hard to understand why someone would escape from a work-release program," News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said. "It's very risky to do that because once they're caught, they could then have to fulfill the full term of their sentence, where as if they completed a work-release program, then some of their sentence may be reduced."

Smith said the work-release program isn't just beneficial for inmates, it saves taxpayers money. He said nonviolent offenders are usually the only inmates considered for these programs.

Some of the work the prisoners do is cleaning up trash along the highway or cleaning an office. Sometimes they hold civilian jobs.

In Brown's case, he was working at Pita Pit. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said he never returned to the Community Transition Center after his shift.

Deonte Cullers, 20, who escaped in June, was arrested in early October after a 3-mile police pursuit in Arlington. He stopped the car he was driving and ran, but officers caught up with him.

Juan Rosacamacho, 38, escaped at the end of October. Two days later he was caught and booked back into jail.

"They understand everything about the workforce program -- they sign paperwork, they read everything. They understand how the work is to be performed and how much time, and what are the consequences for not completing the program and for escaping," Smith said.

An active search is underway for Brown, who was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 150 pounds, with black hair and green eyes. 

Anyone who has any information in reference to location of this wanted suspect is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous and receive a possible reward up to $3,000 contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.