Slovak national escaped Houston ICE detention center using yoga mat

A man held in an ICE detention center in Houston managed to escape the facility in March by using a yoga mat to help scale a wall, newly-unsealed federal court documents have revealed.

Ladislav Petro, 51, a Slovak national, escaped from the Houston Contract Detention Facility on Export Plaza Drive on March 15. When ICE was informed of Petro’s disappearance by employees of Core Civic, the contractor responsible for running the facility, a 24-hour, multi-agency manhunt was carried out, ending with the wanted man later recaptured nearby.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, an ICE spokesperson offered few details about the circumstances of the escape itself but told KRC2 News: “Following the escape, detention staff immediately notified local, state, and federal authorities, and a coordinated, multi-agency search was immediately launched to quickly locate Petro.

“Thanks to the efforts of all agencies involved, Petro was safely apprehended in just over 24 hours not far from the Houston Contract Detention Facility.”

Petro had a criminal record and an Interpol Red Notice for production and distribution of child pornography, according to ICE, and had been ordered to leave the U.S. in May 2024, with his case pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Following the escape attempt, a federal grand jury indicted Petro on charges including willfully preventing or hampering departure after a final order of removal and escape, court records show.

The exact details of how Petro made his break for freedom remained obscure because a criminal complaint describing the incident was placed under seal on the day it happened and remained so until KRC2 submitted an inquiry about the case to the Department of Justice in April.

According to the outlet, federal prosecutors filed a motion to unseal the criminal complaint within hours of its inquiry being submitted.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Palermo duly signed an order for its unsealing this week, providing fresh insight into Petro’s adventure.

The complaint reveals that the detainee fled the facility between 9:20 a.m. and 2 p.m but his absence was not noticed until approximately 4:22 p.m. when a headcount of inmates was conducted.

Surveillance footage indicated Petro had last been seen in the center’s recreation yard, where a discarded yoga mat was found.

“Further investigation revealed the defendant used that yoga mat to scale the recreation yard wall to the roof of the building and then subsequently jumped from the roof to an area outside of the facility,” an officer wrote in the complaint.

Asked for more details about the incident, an ICE spokesman told The Independent: “Immediately following an escape at an ICE detention facility, a Corrective Action Team is deployed to conduct an exhaustive review of the circumstances that led to the escape to identify any deficiencies or vulnerabilities and to make recommendations regarding potential enhancements to current policies, procedures, and training to prevent future escapes.

“In the event human error is discovered to have contributed to the escape, ICE leadership counsels the individual(s) at fault and takes further corrective or disciplinary action, if warranted.

“For operational security reasons, ICE is unable to comment on any potential deficiencies or vulnerabilities that were identified, or any remedial actions that were implemented, following the escape at the Houston Contract Detention Facility.”

The episode is just the latest controversy to envelop the immigration enforcement agency and its detention centers, which continue to attract adverse headlines.

This month alone, it has emerged that the New Jersey Department of Health is suing the Delaney Hall ICE facility, the target of recent hunger strikes and sympathy protests, over fears of disease outbreaks given its “potentially inadequate tuberculosis infection control practices.”

In Louisiana, a Department of Homeland Security watchdog’s report criticized guards from the Winn Correctional Center for using a chokehold to “gain control” of a detainee in one incident and stabbing a person with a pen in another.

In Camp East Montana in Texas, ICE’s biggest detention center, another federal watchdog’s report revealed that a guard had lost a loaded gun that was not found even after two months of searching, exposing staff, detainees and the public to “significant risk.”

“ICE is always looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care to illegal aliens in our custody,” a DHS spokesperson told The Independent.