OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) — In St. Landry Parish, officers with the Opelousas Police Department are helping officials with the Madison Parish Sheriff’s Office in an active manhunt for an escaped inmate.

Raymond Howard, 34, escaped the custody of Madison Parish Sheriff deputies in Opelousas during transport.

Officials said Howard was being transported on Wallior Street from the St. Landry Parish courthouse by Madison Parish Sheriff deputies when he escaped. He was last seen entering a wooded area in Opelousas.

“He is a fugitive that is still on the run, he was last seen in the Opelousas area, and we just wanted citizens to know that they need to be vigilant,” Opelousas Public Information Officer Joseph Anderson said. “This man is considered armed and dangerous.”

According to a press release from the Opelousas Police Department, surveillance video and witnesses last seen Howard on Wallior street running past a Take 5 car wash. Officials said he was last seen wearing a white t-shirt after removing his orange jumpsuit and entering into a wooded area near the car wash.

“We also want to make it clear that if there’s anyone in the Opelousas area that is assisting him in invading capture, you will be prosecuted to the highest level of law if that is discovered,” said Anderson.

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