Man escapes from La Plata County Jail, is arrested in Animas River. Jonah Barrett-Lesko led police on chase outside jail days before his sentencing.

Colorado man accused of raping a horse flees jail, is now promptly returned

By Edward Era Barbacena

A white man who was accused of having sex with a horse escaped jail Tuesday — but only made it less than a mile before he was caught and landed back behind bars.

Jonah Barrett-Lesko, 25, was captured by police in the Animas River in Durango about 25 minutes after he escaped from the La Plata County Jail, police told The Durango Herald. 

He was first discovered missing when police received a phone call about a man in a jumpsuit running near Office Depot, police told the paper.

About 20 minutes later, Durango Police Chief Bob Brammer just happened to be driving by the area when he spotted Barrett-Lesko, now in just his boxers having removed his uniform, running along the river, which is just under a mile from the jail.

“That’s what really attracted my attention to him because you don’t see half-naked people running through the woods in their boxer shorts,” Brammer told The Herald.

The chief said he and another officer pursued Barrett-Lesko several times back and forth across the river before more officers arrived and were able to surround him. He was arrested without a struggle.

Barrett-Lesko first made headlines when he was caught on camera allegedly having sexual intercourse with a horse at the La Plata County fairgrounds in the middle of the night on June 17.

The animal cruelty charges were dropped as part of a plea deal, and he had been locked up on trespassing charges in connection to several burglaries when he was discovered missing from the recreation yard Tuesday afternoon, according to KRQE.

According to police, Barrett-Lesko had been in the rec yard alone at the time of his escape. He was able to get over the wall, police told the Durango Herald.

“There’s a video of him going up the wall, and then using his feet on one side and back on the other side,” Sheriff’s Office Lt. Pat Downs Downs told the paper. “… It appears he got out of some small hole in the upper fenced-in area of the old rec yard.”

Barrett-Lesko is expected to be charged with felony escape.