Two escapees from a North Texas prison are still on the run after slipping into the woods Saturday night.
Raymond Ross and Ramon Perez were last spotted near the Fannin County jail at the South Annex on County Road 4200 in Bonham shortly after 9 p.m. on November 25. Both men were wearing prison-issued gray sweats and were not believed to be carrying any weapons at the time.
Although the circumstances of their escape have not been disclosed, the Fannin County Texas Office of Emergency Management revealed on social media that Ross had been booked on charges of evading arrest with a motor vehicle, drug possession, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Perez was being held on allegations of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Ross is described as a 5-foot-7 white male weighing approximately 160 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. Perez is a 5-foot-11 white male with black hair and brown eyes. He weighs roughly 180 pounds, according to KXII.com.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Ross or Perez is urged to contact 911 or the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office at 903-583-2143. Authorities strongly discourage engaging with either suspect.
In June, Trent Thompson, an inmate from a west central Texas prison, managed to travel several hundred miles in an allegedly stolen vehicle after jumping the prison fence, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The 22-year-old was captured by the authorities roughly 12 hours later.
In North Texas, the Dallas Police Department continues its efforts to curb crime rates but struggles with a significant officer shortage. Only 3,200 officers patrol the City despite a prior City analysis advising that a municipality the size of Dallas needs roughly three officers for every 1,000 residents, putting the ideal staffing level at around 4,000 officers.
Downtown Dallas logs considerably more crime than Fort Worth’s downtown area. Fort Worth’s city center is reportedly patrolled by a special neighborhood police unit that works alongside private security guards.
As covered by The Dallas Express, this staff shortage strain can also be seen in the averages logged in the City’s police response times dashboard. Dallas police are taking 8.2 minutes on average to respond to P1 calls in the Central Patrol Division, just over the 8-minute goal set by officials. Meanwhile, the Citywide response time average for P1 calls is 11.4 minutes.