BELLINGHAM, Wash. – An inmate at the Whatcom County Jail attempted an escape Tuesday night, July 4th, after the lock on his cell door failed.

Corrections Deputies were alerted at about 6:30 p.m. when 23-year-old Christian Dillard kicked his cell door down.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Deb Slater says the force of his kick made the door lock experience a “mechanical failure” and it opened into an outer security area.

Deputies attempted to convince Dillard to go back to his cell for over an hour before the Emergency Response Team arrived and moved him to a safety cell.

Dillard was being held in one of the highest security units in the downtown jail.

Sheriff Bill Elfo describes Dillard as “an extremely dangerous and violent inmate” who previously assaulted a Corrections Deputy and left them with a traumatic brain injury.

Elfo says this breach is just another example of a long series of failures involving the jail’s infrastructure and security systems.

He’s ordered all public tours of the jail and non-essential visits to be suspended until the Sherrif’s Office is assured that locking mechanisms and doors can be secured.