Inmate Missing from Enfield Prison Still At Large

ENFIELD, CT — An inmate who escaped from the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield Sunday has not yet been captured, Department of Correction Commissioner Scott Semple said late Monday morning.

Jerry Mercado, 25, was deemed unaccounted for around 3:15 p.m. Sunday during a routine facility count at the medium-security prison, which houses about 1,500 inmates, Semple said.

The commissioner said a collaborative investigation between the DOC and state and local police is ongoing, both to locate the prisoner and to examine security protocols within Carl Robinson and the other 14 correctional institutions in the state.

Mercado did not breach the outer perimeter of the prison's fenceline, leading investigators to believe a motor vehicle may have been involved in his escape. Semple said he may have been "potentially a stowaway in the infrastructure underneath a vehicle."

Mercado, who according to judicial records is serving an eight-year sentence, suspended after three years, for stealing a firearm, a three-year sentence for third-degree burglary and a year for interfering with police, is scheduled for release on Jan. 9, 2019, Semple said.

He is described as Hispanic, standing 5-feet-4 and weighing 137 lbs. He also has a visible tattoo on his left temple, and a large tattoo reading "Time waits for no one" on his neck.

The commissioner said Mercado is believed to be in the Hartford area, but added, "There is no threat to the public currently."

Anyone who sees Mercado is directed not to approach him, but to call 911.

Photo courtesy of Connecticut Department of Correction