‘I’m nervous as a flyer’: Jake Skorheim recaps chilling trend of prisoners escaping at Sea-Tac

A 20-year-old prisoner, John Nino, who escaped custody from the Department of Corrections (DOC) while inside the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac), was caught by law enforcement Wednesday.

KIRO host Jake Skorheim detailed that these escapes have been a recurring event at Sea-Tac, and noted his discomfort on flights knowing a prisoner could be actively plotting an escape.

“I’m kind of a nervous flyer as it is,” Jake said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “If I’m sitting there, and I see Hannibal Lecter on the flight with me, it’s going to make me feel really uncomfortable.”

Sea-Tac prisoner escapes becoming a trend

Nino is the second reported prisoner to escape from custody at the Sea-Tac airport in the last few months. Nino was on the fourth floor of Sea-Tac Airport, with two DOC officers, when he escaped.

“They keep escaping every two months. Now I’m sitting there thinking if there is a prisoner around me that I need to be worried about,” Jake said. “I’d like them to be in an orange jumpsuit, it helps me because now anybody I see that looks a little suspicious, I’m thinking that’s a prisoner.”

Following Nino’s escape, he ran to a nearby light rail, then went across the pedestrian bridge on the east side of the station, and down toward International Boulevard.

“I don’t think prisoners should have any possibility of escape during transport,” KIRO host Spike O’Neill said. “Prisoners are shackled on the plane by their ankles, but never while they’re in the terminal. What is the value of that?”

Nino was taken into custody in Tacoma shortly after 4 p.m. when a car he was riding in was spotted in King County. Authorities followed the car to Tacoma and arrested Nino without incident.

“It’s good that they got him, but it’s not good that they keep losing prisoners transporting through Sea-Tac,” Jake said.

“Is there something unique about Sea-Tac?” KIRO Newsradio’s Luke Duecy asked. “This happened a month ago, too. It was a private company that lost the prisoner, but 99.9% of the time, this never happens.”

In May, Sedrick T. Stevenson, 28, escaped custody while being transported through the Sea-Tac airport. Stevenson was able to board a light rail train and got off at a station in Capitol Hill. Stevenson was arrested and is currently held in the King County Jail.

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.