Law enforcement continued Saturday evening to search for an inmate who escaped from the Jefferson County Detention Center late Friday, according to a 5:30 p.m. post to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
Tory Vincent Gee, 27, escaped 10:25 p.m. Friday. He is listed as a violent offender on the Montana Sexual or Violent Offender Registry due to an assault with a weapon charge.
Gee was able to “compromise” a jail cell to escape, Undersheriff Mike Johnson told the Helena Independent Record.
The Boulder Monitor was unable to reach Johnson Saturday.
A post to the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page at 8:20 a.m. Saturday states that a vehicle had been reported stolen in Boulder. Johnson told the Independent Record that Gee was considered a suspect in the theft of the blue 1991 Chevrolet S10 pickup with Montana license plate number 51-1565B, and was thought to be headed south.
According to the Oct. 9 jail roster, Gee, 27, was arrested Aug. 17 and being held on a Madison County warrant with bond set at $50,000. Johnson told the Independent Record Gee was sought on suspicion of assault with a weapon and also faces a bail revocation out of Beaverhead County.
Gee is on probation and has previous convictions in Beaverhead County for assault with a weapon, carrying concealed weapons and burglary, according to the Montana Department of Corrections website.
Prior to Gee’s escape, law enforcement radio traffic suggested that Gee was thought to have climbed into the ceiling of the Detention Center. Deputies and Boulder police officers kept watch outside the building and on the roof, while two deputies inside could briefly be seen through a window pointing flashlights up at a section of the ceiling.
At one point a Sheriff’s Office truck left momentarily and returned with two step ladders that were brought inside.
After Gee’s escape at 10:25 p.m., a handful of deputies, two Boulder police officers and at least two Montana Highway Patrol officers patrolled Boulder streets on foot and in vehicles looking for Gee. At least one dog was used in an attempt to track his scent.
Shortly before midnight, law enforcement vehicles rushed to the Town Pump after Gee was reported seen there, but the person wasn’t him.
Gee was said to be “wearing a white t-shirt and orange pants, and has a clean shaven head and face,” the Sheriff’s Office Facebook post states. Radio traffic suggested that he was also barefoot.
The Department of Corrections website states Gee is six feet tall, weighs 190 pounds, has pierced ears and numerous scars and tattoos.
People are warned not to approach Gee and to call 911 if they see him.
