Jackson County officials have recovered one of three teens who escaped from the second-floor residential program of the Jackson County Juvenile Detention Center early Wednesday morning, after they barricaded themselves in their room by tying a restraint to the door handle.
“(They) decided they didn’t want to be there anymore," said Joe Ferguson, deputy director for the Juvenile Department.
The three boys — 14, 15 and 17 — are from Ashland, Medford and White City, respectively. The 17-year-old has since been apprehended by police and is back in the detention side of the facility on felony charges of criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. The 14-year-old and 15-year-old are still missing.
The residential program facility is a voluntary program for youth struggling on probation. It is in the second floor of the center, where two detention units are also housed, but is not part of the detention program.
The broken window will cost more than $1,000 to fix, officials said. They are still unsure if incident will mean tightened security at the program.
“We deal with a tough clientele," Ferguson said. “We’ll review everything that happened and make some decisions. We will more than likely not make it into detention."
