NATCHEZ — Five state inmates were charged Wednesday after an unsuccessful weekend escape attempt from the Adams County jail in downtown Natchez.

Verenzo Cartrell Green, 29, Khadijah Isiah Mosby, 19, and Jacob Collin Simmons, 22, were all charged with attempted escape and destroying public property.

Preston Sewell Carr, 23, and Benjamine Joseph Desjardine, 35, were both charged with aiding the escape of felons.

Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield said jail officials became aware of the escape attempt at approximately 6 p.m. Saturday after hearing a loud noise coming from the third floor of the prison.

Deputies went outside the jail to observe while jailers went to the third floor, and the deputies on the outside heard a noise coming from one of the third-floor windows and observed that pieces of the Plexiglas had fallen to the ground, Mayfield said.

The sheriff said jailers inside the facility found that the inmates had pried loose a steel bar from a wall where maintenance workers had been working on a commode.

“They had wrapped that (bar) in a blanket to muffle the noise, and had used it to beat down the steel mesh from the window,” Mayfield said. “They had taken toilet paper and lit it on fire — possibly by making wires from the television spark to light it or a contraband lighter they flushed — and were heating the Plexiglas and beating it with the steel bar.”

Jailers were able to contain the inmates and put them in lockdown, and Mayfield said none of the prisoners were ever close to escaping. All of the inmates were state prisoners awaiting transport to Mississippi Department of Corrections facilities.

After an investigation that Mayfield said included reviewing video and recorded prison phone calls, the inmates were charged.

Jail officials believe Green was the main leader of the attempt, Mayfield said.

Green was sentenced to 45 years prison for possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and trafficking stolen firearms last week.

The sheriff said following the incident his office reviewed the incident and found the jail staff followed all policies and procedures.

“The jail staff did a good job, they were very alert,” he said.