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Canadian Cops Have Caught An Inmate Who Escaped With a Masked Gunman in a Minivan

Harley John Lay was sprung from custody on Monday morning after a masked man held up two corrections officers with a handgun.
Photo via Brittney Le Blanc/Flickr

After a manhunt by land and air, Harley John Lay's brief taste of freedom is over.

Lay, a prisoner in Alberta, was sprung from custody Monday morning after a masked man held up his two corrections officers with a handgun. He managed to flee 370 miles in a getaway car to Fort Nelson, British Columbia, where he, and two other men, were caught and arrested on Tuesday morning.

Police haven't released any further information about the arrests.

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On Monday, guards were taking Lay to the hospital for a medical appointment from the Peace River Correctional Centre when a masked man intercepted them at gunpoint and demanded they release Lay. The unarmed officers gave in and Lay and the masked man bolted into a beige Dodge minivan and drove away.

Lay, a 29-year-old serving sentences for a string of drug and firearms offences dating back to 2004, was still on the lamb as of Tuesday morning. Officers with Canada's federal police force (RCMP) are searching for Lay and his accomplices across northwestern Alberta by car and aircraft.

Lay is awaiting trial for 16 criminal charges, including unlawful confinement and attacking a police officer with bear spray. In 2009, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for drug trafficking.

Laurel Scott, media relations officer for the central Alberta district RCMP, told VICE News on Monday that that overall public safety was not a concern.

"This was a very targeted, specialized situation, and so I don't think the general public has any reason to fear for their safety," she said. "But at the same time, we're asking people not to intervene or approach these people if they come across them."

The province's minister of justice, Kathleen Ganley, said in an email that the safety of the correctional staff and the inmates in their custody is "paramount" and that her department had offered assistance to staff at the Peace River Correctional Centre.

"An internal Board of Inquiry will be held to review this incident to determine the circumstances and what we might learn from it," she added.

In an interview with Global News, Erez Raz, a spokesperson for the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees said that correctional officers go through training to deal with attempted escapes.

"When a supposed masked gunman with a weapon is telling you to let the individual go, you're not going to resist. They did everything they could with what they have and fortunately no one was injured," he said.