MAHONING COUNTY Inmate escapes from jail

YOUNGSTOWN -- Law enforcement authorities are searching for an 18-year-old inmate of the Mahoning County Misdemeanor Jail who escaped from the minimum security facility just before midnight Thursday.
Arturo Novoa of Campbell, who was serving sentences for possession of criminal tools and petty theft, escaped by breaking a second-story window and climbing a sheet to the ground.
He was booked into the jail July 21 and was due to be released Jan. 11, 2005. However, he now will face additional charges of vandalism and escape, said Maj. Michael Budd of the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department.
Budd described Novoa as a Hispanic male, 6 feet tall and weighing 130 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and a light complexion.
The misdemeanor jail, 360 W. Commerce St., houses between 80 and 100 inmates at any given time. Two deputies provide security at the jail by conducting intermittent inspections. When Novoa escaped, the inmate count was 91, Budd said.
The escape was reported at 11:40 p.m. by someone from the Western Reserve Transit Authority across the street, who saw Novoa climbing down the sheet, Budd said.