Violent inmate breaks out of Whatcom County Jail cell

WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — The Whatcom County Jail is bringing in county workers to monitor their locks and is suspending non-essential visits after a violent offender broke out of his cell.

He was out for an hour before an emergency response team put him back in the cell, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

He was held in a high-security unit but the Sheriff’s Department said the lock had a mechanical failure when the inmate kicked the door.

That lock was replaced just three years ago. The County Facilities Department will now look at all the locks to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“Mr. Dillard is an extremely dangerous and violent inmate,” said Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo. “He previously committed a very serious assault upon a Corrections Deputy that resulted in a debilitating traumatic brain injury. Mr. Dillard poses a very serious threat to our deputies and the public at large. This breach is just one more example of a long series of failures involving jail infrastructure and security systems and illustrates that retrofits to the deteriorating jail facility cannot be relied upon.”

Public tours of the jail and non-essential visits are suspended until the jail is sure all locks are secure.

©2023 Cox Media Group