Teens who escaped Pennsylvania youth detention centre hand themselves in after getting 'cold'

Four out of nine teenagers who escaped from a juvenile detention centre in Pennsylvania handed themselves in within hours because they got “cold and tired”.

The teens escaped Abraxas Academy in Morgantown on Sunday after overpowering staff and crawling under a fence after a riot broke out.

Some later handed themselves in, while the rest were caught by officials after being on the run for less than 12 hours.

All juveniles, aged between 15 and 17, will be charged with escape and some may face other charges, state police said.

The first four escapees were taken into custody shortly before 6am, after they went to a home and knocked on the door.

Pennsylvania State Trooper David Beohm said they turned themselves in because they were “cold and tired”.

The other five were captured after police received a report of a stolen truck and “a sort of pursuit” took place.

Four youths were taken into custody from the vehicle and a fifth, who took off on foot, was caught in a field a short time later.

They got out of the building and went to the recreation yard, where they found a spot to crawl under the fence, Beohm said. They were captured about four miles from the detention centre.

Abraxas Academy is a secure residential centre providing “specialised care for delinquent male youth between the ages of 14 to 18 in 9th grade or above,” according to the facility’s website.

This incident comes five days after the capture of a murderer who sparked a manhunt which lasted for almost two weeks after he escaped from a Pennsylvania jail.

Danilo Souza Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County jail in southeastern Pennsylvania on August 31 by “crab walking” up a wall.

The dramatic capture of Cavalcante two weeks later in Chester County involved a helicopter, a lightning storm, a police dog and more than 20 tactical officers, officials said.

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