Colt Lyerla, Former Oregon Duck and NFL Hopeful, Escapes Custody in Washington County

HILLSBORO, OR — Former rising star with the University of Oregon football team, Colt Lyerla, escaped custody at the Community Corrections Center in Hillsboro Thursday but was found Friday morning after allegedly suffering a heroin overdose.

Around 11:15 a.m. May 5, Hillsboro police officers found Lyerla at a house located at 1707 N.E. Parkside Dr. in Hillsboro, where he reportedly suffered an overdose but was revived by the home's occupants via CPR and the opioid overdose nasal spray NARCAN.

After additional treatment at the home provided by Hillsboro Fire Department paramedics, Lyerla was escorted to an ambulance. While walking to the emergency vehicle, however, Lyerla reportedly took off running. He was caught again a short time later and taken to hospital without further incident, police said.

Transferred to the Community Corrections Center on April 26 to serve the time remaining on a six-month sentence for drug possession and other charges, Lyerla reportedly escaped on Thursday afternoon through a window on the facility's first floor, according to a statement from county corrections director Steve Berger.

According to a statement provided by Marcie Nelson, manager for the county's Center for Counseling & Victims' Services, at the time of his escape Lyerla was still in the center's two-week orientation phase and was not allowed to leave the facility. During this time Lyerla was reportedly disciplined for passing a note to a female resident of the center, but that was the extent of his misbehavior, Nelson said.

Additionally, Lyerla was at no time considered a danger to the public, Nelson said, adding that it was also not believed Lyerla was at risk of attempting to escape.

The Community Corrections Center (CCC) is a less secure facility than the Washington County Jail, county spokesman Philip Bransford told Patch Friday. Inmates at the CCC work with county officials in criminal justice system programs to receive "substance abuse treatment, mental health evaluations and treatment, employment counseling and job referrals, cognitive skills training, faith-based support and life-skills programs such as computing and anger management," according to Berger's statement. These programs are meant to assist inmates as they work to re-enter their respective communities ostensibly as law-abiding citizens.

A former Hillsboro High School athlete, Lyerla was picked up as a free agent by the Green Bay Packers football team in 2014 but was released following a leg injury.

Since that time, Lyerla has been arrested and convicted multiple times in Washington and Lane counties for drug possession and driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), among other charges.

Image via Washington County Sheriff's Office