Inmate who walked off job site was in prison on drug, firearm convictions

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Derrick Brown, the work release inmate who walked off a job site in Moss Bluff last month, was in prison on drug and firearm charges.

Brown, 38, was convicted of two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute and one count of attempted possession of a firearm.

Brown, of Lake Charles, was housed at Louisiana Workforce in DeQuincy when he walked away from a job at a business on U.S. 171 in Moss Bluff on Monday, Oct. 30.

He still has not been found.

Paul Perkins, who operates Louisiana Workforce, said the program is for non-violent offenders, and Workforce doesn’t typically notify the public when an inmate walks off a job site. Typically, the inmates return the same day, when they realize the extra charges they face for walking off, he said.

In this case, they were hoping the public might be able to assist, Perkins said.

The Beauregard Sheriff’s Office has issued a $250,000 warrant for simple escape, signed by Judge Kerry Anderson.

Authorities are asking anyone who knows of Brown’s whereabouts to call the Calcasieu Sheriff’s Office at (337) 491-3795.

If anyone is found to be assisting or harboring Brown, they will be charged accordingly, authorities said.

Copyright 2023 KPLC. All rights reserved.