Jefferson Parish deputies search for inmate who escaped in JPSO unit

Updated: Feb 26, 2024 / 06:26 AM CST

GRETNA, La. (WGNO) — The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is searching for an inmate who allegedly escaped from custody in a JPSO unit on Sunday, Feb. 25.

Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said 51-year-old Leon Ruffin is a convicted felon who’s been in custody on a second-degree murder charged since last July.

Leon Ruffin (Courtesy: Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office)

According to the sheriff, he’s been in the correctional facility’s medical center for some time and believes he had been faking an injury.

Though, on Sunday, he was taken to Ochnser Medical Center on the Westbank around 12 p.m. to be treated for a seizure.

The incident happened around 6:40 p.m. when he was being discharged.

Lopinto said Ruffin caused some sort of disturbance, pepper sprayed a deputy and took her vehicle. The deputy fired off three rounds. It was noted that the deputy still had her own pepper spray, stun gun and firearm on her.

The JPSO unit was found around 9:20 p.m. in Algiers. Ruffin still remains at large.

Lopinto said Ruffin has nothing to lose because he’s facing life in prison and that he should be considered armed and dangerous. Ruffin was described as being 5 feet and 9 inches tall and weighing 270 pounds.

He said the entire sheriff’s office has been activated to find Ruffin.