Authorities: Escaped Man Armed And Dangerous

by Breanna Fuss, Reporter
January 08, 2013 4:00 PM


Residents of Huron and the surrounding area have been on high alert all Tuesday after an armed prisoner escaped from a jail.

According to authorities 45-year-old Charles Beeney escaped from a Huron jail around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Authorities said Beeney has a long list of attempted escapes from every jail and prison he has been held in. But Tuesday morning he successfully got away, using paper mache gun authorities said he made himself.
 
“He had 20 years in State Penitentiaries not only in Kansas, but sometime in North Dakota too. So he is pretty well educated on prison type weapons,” said Sheriff Doug Solem, Beadle County Sheriff’s Department.

That knowledge is what has the Beadle County Sheriff Doug Solemn saying Beeney is a professional and extremely dangerous.

According to the Beadle County Sheriff’s Department, Beeney was being held on charges from a December chase he led officers on.

But despite his knowledge, and ten page long criminal history, Solem said Beeney was a good inmate. 

"He never caused us any problems as an inmate. No problems at all,” said Solem.

But Solem said that all changed early Tuesday morning.

“He asked to talk to one of our jailers...and at that time the jailer approached him,” said Solem.

It was then Solem said Beeney showed the jailer a 45-calliber live round.

 “…And he said here, I found this,” explained Solem.

Then Beeney showed the jailer a homemade gun and said, “I have another.” Solem said Beeney then threatened the jailer.

“If you don’t do what I tell you, I'm going to kill you,” Solem said.
 
The jailer doing what he was trained to do said Solem, obeyed Beeney and tool him to get his personal clothes being stored.

“And then proceeded to let him out the back door,” said Solem.

Solem said they found Beeney’s shoes and a makeshift knife made out of a pencil and the tip of a pen not far from the jail. Then around 2 a.m. authorities got a call about a stolen vehicle about 2 miles east of Huron.    

 The police describe the vehicle as a blue/white Ford F-250 with a license plate of 4CD178.

The U.S. Marshal arrived in Huron Tuesday afternoon to assist in the search. Authorities are asking anyone who thinks they may have seen Beeney or the stolen vehicle to contact authorities immediately.