Sheriff’s officials in northwest Iowa’s Sac County said Saturday, that at around 4:25 p.m. Friday, two inmates in the Sac County Jail over powered a female correctional officer. Authorities say 35-year ol Joseph Lee Sly,  of Rockwell City, was being moved from the main cell area back to a holding cell after a shower. As the correctional officer was opening the main cell door, she was grabbed by 25-year old inmate Shawn Patrick Freier, of Lake View.

Joseph Sly

Shawn Freier

Freier and Sly pulled the correctional officer in to the main cellblock and shut the door locking the correctional officer inside. The two inmates then ran down the stairwell. A courthouse custodian heard the correctional officer screaming and opened a locked door at the bottom of a staircase. Joseph Sly pushed the custodian out of the way and ran down the hall. Sly exited the building. Shawn Freier at the bottom of the stairway enter the kitchen area through an unlocked door. Freier jumped out a first floor window.

Freier ran south from the jail and Sly ran north. Law enforcement officer from surrounding areas responded to assist in looking for the two. A drone with thermal imaging capabilities was used as well as Sac County Sheriff’s K-9. The ground search was called off after dark. On Saturday, October 10th, an off-duty Lake View Police Reserve officer was traveling through Sac City, and spotted Joseph Sly around 7:28-a.m., walking on North 5th Street. The off duty reserve officer was able to take Sly in to custody without incident and return him to the Sac County Jail. Shawn Freier remains at large.

Anyone with information on the location of Shawn Freier should call the Sac County Sheriff’s Office at 712-662-7127 or 911. Freier is serving time for domestic violence charges. Joseph Sly faces charges in Calhoun County for domestic violence and sex abuse charges. Both men are now charged with escape from custody. Additional charges are expected. No injuries are reported.

Responding to assist the Sac County Sheriff’s Office and Sac City Police were the Lake View Police, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Carroll Police, Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers, Fonda Police, Emergency Management from Calhoun and Webster Counties and Sac County Ambulance.