Murder suspect escapes from custody days after arrest

Murder suspect Carlton Courtland Jones has escaped from lawful custody just days after being arrested following a confrontation with police.
Now again on the run, the 28-year-old resident of Aranaputa Valley in North Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), is wanted for the 2022 murder of Aeriey Matthews, but had been evading the authorities.
Arrested on Wednesday with his alleged accomplice Rickford King, during a police operation conducted along the Lethem/Kurupukari Trail near Pirara Village, he was in detention at the Lethem Police Station when he escaped from lawful custody.
The police have said that, acting on a tip-off, ranks had confronted Jones and King as they travelled on a motorcycle, and when they instructed them to stop, the men had disobeyed the instruction; but they eventually lost control of the bike and it crashed. Armed with choppers, these two men then attacked the police, and an inspector had sustained injuries.
Police then discharged several warning shots before subduing and arresting both men. They were transported to the Lethem Regional Hospital for treatment of minor injuries they had sustained, and were reportedly in stable condition at the time.
Details surrounding Jones’s escape from the Lethem Police Station remain unclear, but the GPF on Friday issued a wanted bulletin for him, whom they describe as dangerous.
Police are urging anyone with information about Jones’s whereabouts to contact them immediately on telephone numbers 227-1149, 225-8196, 227-1611, 268-2328, 333-3876, 911, or at the nearest police station.