Louisiana Casino Robber Escapes from Jail, Sheriff Promises Disciplinary Action

Posted on: October 27, 2022, 05:29h. 

Last updated on: October 27, 2022, 12:31h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

UPDATE: Roller Avila, 19, was captured at about 4 a.m. Thursday in Jefferson Parish, La. He had escaped from Assumption Parish Detention Center on Tuesday.

EARLIER: An alleged armed casino robber escaped from a Louisiana jail this week and remains on the loose. The break-out was blamed on an unspecified “employee error.”

Assumption Parish Detention Center
Assumption Parish Detention Center, pictured above. A man incarcerated for a casino robbery escaped from the Louisiana jail. (Image: The Advocate)

Roller Avila, 19, of Donaldsonville, La., apparently snuck out of the Assumption Parish Detention Center on Tuesday evening. He was being held on an armed robbery charge.

Details on the escape weren’t released by the sheriff’s office. The office pledges to take “disciplinary action” against employees who make mistakes, WAFB, a local TV station, reported.

Since the breakout, Avila likely fled from the area. The jail is located near Napoleonville, La.

Lonny Cavalier, commander of the Assumption Sheriff’s criminal administrative section, confirmed there was a “breach in operation protocol in maintaining the count of inmates.”

“Our facility is as secure as the people who work it,” Cavalier told WAFB. “We are making changes to make sure this does not happen again.”

Investigation Underway

Sheriff Leland Falcon has undertaken “an investigation, and disciplinary action will be assessed accordingly to the responsible employee or employees,” Cavalier added.

Avila is Hispanic, about 5-feet-9 and weighs approximately 125 pounds. He was one of eight suspects involved in the robbery of Louisiana’s Cane Row Truck Stop & Casino on September 29.

Besides Avila, other suspects were identified as Jose Luis Gordillo, 18, of Gulfport, Miss., Hector Omar Barahona, 20, of New Orleans, La., and Brayon Chinchilla Pacheco, 18, of Harvey, La. Earlier arrests included Jonathan Lopez, 19, of Harvey, La., Norman D. Escalate, 18, of Terrytown, La., and an unnamed 17-year-old from Gretna, La.

Each was charged with armed robbery with a firearm. A 16-year-old from Marrero, La., was charged with being an accessory after the fact to armed robbery with a firearm.

Deputies are investigating if any of the suspects are connected to other robberies, The Advocate, a Baton Rouge, La. newspaper, reported. Besides Avila, most of the other suspects are in the Assumption Parish Detention Center

Pacheo is currently in custody in Kansas, incarcerated on several unrelated charges. He will face a charge in Louisiana after the Kansas charges are addressed in courts in that state.

Authorities did not say how much cash was stolen in the robbery.