59-year-old escapes Monroe jail, found days later by police
Apr 30, 2024, 6:00 AM | Updated: 6:10 am
Left: Patrick Clay, 59, a prisoner who escaped the Monroe Correctional Complex. Right: The white four-door GMC Sierra truck he allegedly escaped in. (Photo courtesy of Monroe Correctional Complex)
(Photo courtesy of Monroe Correctional Complex)
A prisoner who escaped the Monroe Correctional Complex, a minimum security prison, was found and arrested Tuesday morning by local authorities after being on the run since Friday morning.
Staff members of the prison believed the prisoner, 59-year-old Patrick Clay, snuck into an office behind the cleaning crew and stole a staff member’s car keys Friday.
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He was able to drive away from the minimum security prison in a white four-door GMC Sierra truck. On Tuesday morning, before Clay was found and arrested, police found the truck in Seattle’s Central District but still haven’t found Clay.
Clay had a release date of December 24, 2025 for convictions from King County for counts of burglary, malicious mischief, harassment and theft.
According to a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections (DOC), Clay was only serving a two-year sentence at the facility.
“I know the number of escapes has gone down for sure, but they do still happen,” DOC Spokesperson Chris Wright told KIRO 7, acknowledging that this was the second prison escape in Washington within the past two years.
Wright stated when it comes to how exactly Clay was able to escape so easily, they will look at their protocols going forward.
This is a developing story, check back for updates
Contributing: KIRO 7
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
