St. Louis police urged residents Sunday to lock their doors and secure their garages after an inmate escaped from the City Justice Center in downtown St. Louis.
Police identified the man as 29-year-old Maurio Thomas. He’s described as 5’9” and weighing 130 pounds. Police said he was last seen wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, dark pants and white shoes. SLMPD Spokesperson Mitch McCoy described Thomas as “extremely dangerous” and said a manhunt is underway.
St. Louis Police released this image Sunday morning showing Maurio Thomas on the street near the City Justice Center.
Police released surveillance photos on social media Sunday morning showing Thomas on the street near the jail. Investigators say they are using cameras from the Real-Time Crime Center, along with K-9 teams and the department’s intelligence units, to bring Thomas back into custody.
They say anyone who sees Thomas should not approach him and should call 911 immediately.
The department said in a press conference Sunday morning that Thomas escaped the City Justice Center through the ceiling of a room where he may have been making phone calls. He was able to escape the building through an alley behind the CJC.
SLMPD officers were dispatched to the CJC at around 1 a.m. Sunday morning for an attempted escape and later found surveillance footage that showed Thomas outside of the building at around 1:15 a.m. The department’s K-9 unit lost track of Thomas’s scent in Downtown around the corner of 20th St. and Market St.
He was not armed at the time of the escape, according to SLMPD.
“Every available resource is being used,” McCoy said.
Court records show Thomas was being held without bond on two counts of first-degree burglary and two courts of first-degree sodomy.
According to a probable cause statement, Thomas is accused of breaking into a woman’s home and sexually assaulting her on Aug. 16 and Oct. 9. Police said Thomas admitted to the crimes during interviews.
McCoy did not provide details of the victim to protect her safety, but did say that she was a stranger to Thomas at the time of the assault.
The SLMPD plans to provide updates throughout the day.
This is a developing story that will be updated.