2 detainees recaptured after escape from New Jersey immigration
detention center, 2 still at large
[June 16, 2025]
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Two detainees who escaped from a
federal immigration detention center in New Jersey last week have been
recaptured, while another two remain at large, FBI officials said
Sunday.
The four men busted out of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark
during reports of disorder there by breaking through an interior wall
that led to an exterior one, and were able to escape from a parking lot,
according to U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, and Homeland
Security officials.
The FBI said Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez and Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada
were taken back into custody since Friday, while Franklin Norberto
Bautista-Reyes and Andres Felipe Pineda-Mogollon were still on the lam.
Officials did not immediately say how or where the two who are back in
custody were caught. All four men were in the country illegally and had
previously been charged with crimes by local police in New Jersey and
New York City, Homeland Security officials said.
Sandoval-Lopez, from Honduras, was charged with unlawful possession of a
handgun in October and aggravated assault in February, officials said.
Castaneda-Lozada, from Colombia, was charged with burglary, theft and
conspiracy, authorities said.
Bautista-Reyes, from Honduras, was charged in May with aggravated
assault, attempt to cause bodily injury, terroristic threats and a
weapon crime. Pineda-Mogollon, from Colombia, was charged with minor
larceny and burglary crimes. The FBI has announced a $10,000 reward for
information leading to the arrest and conviction of each man.
A spokesperson for the New Jersey public defenders' office, which
represented Sandoval-Lopez, did not immediately return an email seeking
comment Sunday. Attorney information for the other three men could not
be located on online court records.
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Protesters gather outside the Delaney Hall Detention Facility during
protests over federal immigration enforcement raids on Thursday,
June 12, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)
Newark’s mayor, Ras Baraka, a Democrat who’s been critical of
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, cited reports of a
possible uprising and escape after disorder broke out at the
facility Thursday night and protesters outside the center locked
arms and pushed against barricades as vehicles passed through gates.
Much is still unclear about what unfolded there.
But GEO Group, the company that owns and operates the detention
facility for the federal government, said in a statement that there
was “no widespread unrest” at the facility.
Delaney Hall has been the site of clashes this year between
Democratic officials who say the facility needs more oversight and
the Trump administration and those who run the facility.
Baraka was arrested May 9, handcuffed and charged with trespassing.
The charge was later dropped and U.S. Democratic Rep. LaMonica
McIver was later charged with assaulting federal officers stemming
from a skirmish that happened outside the facility. She has denied
the charges.
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