VENUS — The Glades County Sheriff’s Office on Friday still was seeking three teenage inmates who escaped from the Last Chance Ranch, also known as the Florida Environmental Institute, on Dec. 31.

The three teen-age inmates beat one guard with baseball bats and then overpowered and beat a second guard before they escaped in his car.

Emergency Medical Services was called to the scene, to which the first guard, Winston Leroy Harvey, was airlifted to Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

A second guard, Robert Morris, was also overpowered and beaten, then stuffed into a mattress cover and locked inside a bathroom closet.

At about 1:56 a.m., on Dec. 31, the Glades County Sheriff’s Office reports it received a 911 call from Last Chance Ranch, located at 122 Ranch Road, in Venus, Fla.

This is located in the northwest corner of Glades County.

“The caller advised that two guards were injured and down,” according to Glades sheriff’s Chief Deputy Duane Pottorff. “Upon Deputy Donald Crosswell’s arrival, he located the first guard lying inside a vehicle covered in blood.
“Winston had received multiple injuries to the head area including a concussion along with a broken arm.”

Harvey was able to give Crosswell a statement that the three inmates had beaten him with baseball bats and then escaped.
Crosswell moved further into the ranch property to investigate the escape, Pottorff said. While doing so he made contact with the second guard, Robert Morris.

“Robert explained that he was in the bunk room when he was distracted by one of the inmates that the toilet was backed up and requested a plunger,” Pottorff said. “When Robert entered the bathroom with the plunger, he was jumped by the three inmates and overpowered. They threw him to the ground and began kicking him in the head area.”

Morris was later able to free himself from the mattress cover and kicked open the bathroom door. This is when Morris noticed that his car was stolen and traveling down the driveway toward County Road 731.

The car has not yet been recovered, Pottorff said Friday.

Morris was attended to by emergency services personnel and was later taken to a hospital by a friend, where he was admitted into the hospital for his injuries.

Glades County sheriff’s Detective Terry Deese was also notified and went to the scene.

“The three inmates have not been located as of this time,” Pottorff said. “Warrants were signed by Judge J. Lundy for all three inmates on the following charges, felony battery, false imprisonment, criminal mischief, burglary, grand theft of a motor vehicle and escape.

The three inmates are Jesus A. Duran, 15, described as 5-feet 5-inches tall and weighing 140 pounds with brown eyes and black hair; Edward Russo Woodruff, 14, 5-feet 4-inches tall and weighing 125 pounds with brown eyes and black hair; Andrew James Helderman, 16, white, 5-feet 11-inches tall, 175 pounds with green eyes, and black hair.

Helderman was sentenced to the ranch for two counts of battery. Woodruff was sentenced to the facility for two counts of grand theft, giving false information to a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer.

“Woodruff is a known active member of the Latin King Gang,” said Pottorff.

Duran was sentenced to the ranch for fraud and grand theft.

“Duran is a known active member of the SIR-13 Gang,” said Pottorff.

They were last seen driving a 1989 Honda Civic, beige in color with Florida tag No. J26TBD.

It’s anyone’s guess where the three may have gone, Pottorff said.

“Some are from south Florida and some are from North Florida,” he said.

Lake Placid Police Chief Phil Williams said Friday that his previous experience with inmates from the ranch have been positive ones.

Williams described the ranch program as an alternative to prison for boys who may not be beyond help.

“It’s not the worst of the worst, but it isn’t the best of the best,” Williams said. “They didn’t go out there because they didn’t go to Sunday school.”

He said most of the residents go through and complete the program with a low rate of recidivism (relapse into criminal behavior).

“In this end of the county they’re pretty well entrenched into the community,” he said. “The boys work with the community sometimes on different community projects.”

Anyone with information regarding these escaped inmates is asked to contact detective Deese at the Glades County Sheriff’s Office at 863-946-1600 or your local law enforcement agency. The three are considered extremely dangerous and people are being advised not to approach them.