Prisoner’s Bold Escape Attempt Foiled Outside Court

There was high drama outside the Belize City Magistrate’s Court this morning when a prisoner made a daring dash for freedom. It happened around 8:30 on Coney Drive as three inmates were being escorted from a Kolbe Foundation bus into the courthouse. One of them, twenty-six-year-old Omar Morales, decided to make a run for it. Morales, who’s serving time for burglary and facing two more robbery charges, bolted from custody and scaled a fence into the BEL compound. But hot on his heels was Senior Prison Officer Francis Hernandez. As Morales kept running, Hernandez fired a warning shot into the air, forcing the fugitive to slow down. Moments later, he was back in custody. Morales appeared in court an hour later, but instead of freedom, he’s now looking at an additional charge for escaping, on top of his pending cases. His expected release date at the end of this month? That’s likely off the table.