Police: Miami-Dade escapee was low-security inmate, poses no threat to public

Joshua Thompson escaped on Friday from the Miami North Community Release Center, police said. (FDOC)

DORAL, Fla. – The Florida Department of Corrections was investigating how a low-security inmate escaped on Friday in Miami-Dade County. Police officers said on Saturday that he didn’t pose a threat to the public.

Miami-Dade and Doral police officers searched for Joshua Thompson on Friday night in Doral, but could not find him. Miami-Dade police officers later said on Saturday that Thompson, a non-violent offender, did not pose a danger to the community.

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Thompson, 32, a convicted felon, was in a work release program that required him to wear a tracking bracelet and return to the Miami North Community Release Center at the end of his shift, according to the Management & Training Corporation, the private contractor that operates the center.

The MTC, a contractor that manages private prisons and United States Job Corps centers, released a statement on Sunday saying Thompson was in the process of being transferred to the South Florida Reception Center due to policy violations while at the Community Release Center.

Records show Thompson had been in prison since Aug. 2, 2021, after he was sentenced to six years in prison over crimes he had committed in 2017. The list of convictions on the FDOC file included burglaries, grand theft, traffic in stolen property, and criminal mischief.

Thompson, who also has a criminal record in Broward County, is also known as Yeshua Jericho Banner, according to the Florida Department of Corrections records.

Detectives were asking anyone with information about the case to call 911 or Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 or the Florida Department of Corrections at 850-922-6867.


About the Authors
Cody Weddle headshot

Cody Weddle joined Local 10 News as a full-time reporter in South Florida in August of 2022. Before that, Cody worked regularly with Local 10 since January of 2017 as a foreign correspondent in Venezuela and Colombia.

Andrea Torres headshot

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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