Inmate escapes; Marysville jail had no clue

MARYSVILLE — An inmate is back in custody after slipping out of the Marysville City Jail last week while walking back from Bible study.

Rhyan Vasquez, 19, had vanished for two days before anyone noticed he was missing, according to court papers.

His absence was first noticed Sept. 24 when his attorney stopped by the jail to visit his client.

“When the jail staff went to get him, they noticed he was missing,” a police report said.

The Marysville man was first booked into the jail Sept. 16 on misdemeanor warrants out of Marysville Municipal Court.

When he went AWOL, he was scheduled to be transferred to the Snohomish County Jail to be booked for investigation of first-degree robbery. In that case, he allegedly punched a new acquaintance in the back of the head and stole his cellphone, wallet and other belongings. Vasquez also is accused of hitting the man in the face with a closed fist, a blow that broke the man’s jaw and knocked out one of his teeth.

Vasquez is being held on $200,000 for the robbery allegation and another $50,000 for the escape.

Jail staff was able to retrace Vasquez’s disappearance from footage taken by jail surveillance cameras on Sept 22.

Video showed the suspect among several inmates returing from a Bible study class that had been held in a visitation area. On the way back, they walked through an in-custody hearing room on the second floor of the public safety building.

The suspect could be seen standing at the door to the room wearing jail-issued black-and-white striped pants and shirt.

Officers reported that the video showed the man looking around and backing out through the door, into a hallway. He then took some stairs and walked out a back door used by police department employees. By then, he’d ditched the jail shirt for a black tank top.

One corrections officer in charge of escorting the inmates back to the jail said he never saw the man leave the room.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.