Taste of freedom brief for BCC escapees

IQALUIT — Two inmates enjoyed about 90 minutes of freedom on Iqaluit’s streets last week.

At around 6 p.m. on March 7 three inmates escaped from the Baffin Correctional Centre.

One inmate’s liberty was short-lived. Randy Klengenberg was immediately apprehended by the prison staff.

The two others — Herbie Janes and Joe Akpalialuk, both 21 — were on the run throughout the town for about an hour and a half.

The pair were in custody at the time for the violent robbery of a Snack delivery driver on Jan. 10.

It’s alleged that Janes, Akpalialuk and another man, Jason Keeyookta, jumped the delivery driver, hit him in the face with a hammer and robbed him of $2,000.

The driver, Dominic Levesque, sustained cuts and bruises to his face.

All three men were arrested shortly after the alleged beating.

Janes and Akpalialuk, the two escapees, were charged with robbery, assault causing bodily harm, as well as a number of breaches of probation.

Now, added to that are charges of unlawful escape.