Los Angeles police are trying to figure out how a robbery suspect managed to cut a hole in the wall of a cell and escape through a 15-by-9-inch hole in the space of an hour.
The suspect, described as a 20-year-old homeless man, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, escaped from a holding cell at a police station early Thursday morning.
Police said he appeared to have cut or torn a hole in the cell's drywall and ripped up a metal security mesh sandwiched inside the wall before crawling out and leaving through a fire exit.
He had been searched before being put in the cell, but when police checked on him an hour later he had vanished.
"I'm reluctant to put any blame on anyone at this point," said police Lt. Carlos Islas. "Clearly there's a hole in the wall. Whether it's a construction flaw will be determined at a later date."
The department said it was inspecting cells at all 19 of the city's police stations. The man was still at large on Friday.
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