UPDATED - 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022 -  At approximately 6:11 p.m. on Wednesday evening Butte County Sheriff's detectives and deputies located the inmate that had escaped from the Butte County Jail, named Miles Kenneth Bondley.

According to an official from the sheriff's office, officers were following up on leads in the south Oroville area when they saw Bondley.

There was a "brief foot pursuit" before the escaped inmate was "safely taken into custody" and returned to the Butte County Jail to continue his incarceration.

BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. -  An escaped Butte County Jail inmate remains on the loose Thursday night.

Butte County Sheriff's Office is still searching for 34-year-old Miles Michael Kenneth Bondley. Sheriff Kory Honea tells Action News Now, Bondley escaped from the exercise yard in between 5:30 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. Wednesday night.

“If he can do it, then anybody else with athletic ability will be able to do the same thing," said John Yuhnke who was born and raised in Butte County.

Sheriff Honea says Bondley covered the exercise yard camera with wet toilet paper, then escaped out the top of the 12-foot concrete block wall.

“It appears he was able to pry open a gap in the chain-link mesh that covers the exercise yard," said Sheriff Honea. "Within a relatively short period of time, he escaped through a very small hole.”

The exercise yard is made up of 12-foot concrete block walls with the chain link mesh on top, then a solid roof over it. That mesh creates a separation between the walls and the roof for fresh air.

Sheriff Honea says he believes the escape was pre-planned. He says they are looking at changes to policies and procedures to prevent this in the future, but also changes to the yard that was built in 1963.

“The difficulty with an aging facility is that it’s more susceptible to people finding places where they can take advantage of the aging infrastructure, so we will look at the aging infrastructure," said Sheriff Honea.

Action News Now visited several shopping centers in Oroville. Most of the people who spoke with Action News Now say they are concerned with Bondley being out and want change to keep their families safe.

“There needs to be improvements, there safety concerns myself. I have grandchildren and a wife," said Yuhnke. "Just coming out at night time is a concern now."

“Well sure, anytime there is someone like that on the loose, there are safety concerns, but I’m sure that they’re very diligent in trying to find him," said Margaret Dakin who moved to Oroville in 1975.

Sheriff Honea says they believe he acted alone, but it's still too soon to know for sure. He advises people to call 9-1-1 if you see Bondley, but do not try to stop him.

The Sheriff's Office says Bondley is pending trial on numerous felony charges including burglary, stalking, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted arson among other charges.

The Sheriff's Office also already contacted all the victims connected to Bondley and are working to keep them protected.

Butte County Sheriff's Office and other local law enforcement agencies are searching for him.

Lorraine is a long-time Northern California journalist who works weekends as an assignment desk editor and web producer.

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