12 Yakima County Jail inmates escape; 6 recaptured

YAKIMA – A search is underway for six of 12 inmates who escaped from the Yakima County jail on Monday, authorities said.

The Washington State Department of Corrections said a dozen inmates escaped around 7 p.m. after using a table to break open an exterior fire door and climb over a fence to the outside, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported.

Police apprehended six inmates, but the remaining six have not yet been found, the department said in a statement.

U.S. Marshals Service, Washington State Patrol troopers and deputies and police from Yakima and Union Gap responded to the scene.

The Yakima County sheriff’s office is leading the investigation. Anyone with information is urged to contact deputies.