| Escapees
are recaptured
Two inmates who escaped from North Idaho Correctional Institution (NICI) in Cottonwood are back in custody. Local law enforcement agencies and the department’s Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) worked as partners to track the two inmates. They were captured near the institution after an accident involving four-wheelers. Both inmates are being evaluated at a local hospital. The injuries are not life-threatening. At 6:05 p.m. Sunday night, 20-year-old Richard Daniel Nieves and 20-year-old Ben Westley Perez climbed over a security fence and ran from the institution. Nieves was serving a four-to-seven year term for injury to a child in Blaine County. Perez was serving a three-to-10 year term for criminal possession of a financial transaction card and forgery devices, and burglary in Minidoka County. Both men were being held under NICI’s retained jurisdiction program and were eligible to be considered for release in October. Prosecutors will determine if the two will face escape charges. |
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