Orange Walk police are currently in the process of locating a runaway fugitive who disappeared from a holding cell at the Orange Walk Police Station in the wee hours of this morning and subsequently escaped into the night.

According to police, Matthew “Mateo” Bull, 21, was placed in a detention cell at the Orange Walk Police Station yesterday, Monday, July 14, after being convicted in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court for aggravated assault with a firearm and sentenced to one year in prison.

Bull was scheduled to spend the overnight at the station and was to be transported to the Central Prison today; however, when police conducted a check of the cells after 2:00 this morning, they noticed that he was missing.

Authorities believe that Bull somehow ripped through a manhole which was in the cell at block number three in which he was put, after which he slipped past police officers who were on duty at the time.

Matthew Bull is described as being of Creole descent, and slim-built with a low haircut; police are now requesting the public’s assistance to relocate the escaped convict.

Bull and Elroy Arnold, 20, both residents of Trial Farm Village in the Orange Walk District, were both convicted of aggravated assault yesterday, and police believe that Bull might be a direct threat to the complainant, whom they (he and Arnold) assaulted with the firearm.

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Matthew Bull is asked to call the nearest police station or the Orange Walk Police at 322-2022.

Authorities are also reminding the public that aiding and abetting a prisoner who has escaped is a punishable offence by law.