The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office (SMPSO) has arrested two Morgan City men who escaped from the Berwick Police Department Jail on November 12, 2025.
• Cecil Michael Stratton, 46, was arrested on November 15, 2025, at 12:15 a.m.
He is wanted on charges of:
– Unauthorized entry of a critical infrastructure
– Disarming a police officer
– Battery on a police officer
– Aggravated battery
– Simple and aggravated escape
Bail has not yet been set.
• Brandon Lee Brunet, 22, was arrested on November 13, 2025, at 3:44 a.m.
He faces the same charges listed above.
His bail was set at $500,000.
On November 12, SMPSO was notified that two inmates escaped from the Berwick Police Department Jail. According to investigators, Cecil Stratton and Brandon Brunet were able to leave their cell during a lockdown and attacked jail staff.
Multiple agencies responded, including SMPSO Detectives, Narcotics Detectives, Patrol Deputies, and the Morgan City Police Department.
Shortly after the escape, a citizen reported a suspicious person on Pharr Street. Officers found and arrested Brunet without incident. He was taken to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center and later transferred to the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
Officers continued searching for Stratton for several days. On the evening of November 15, Morgan City Police received a report that Stratton had been seen inside a residence. Responding officers from Morgan City, SMPSO, and Berwick PD located him shortly afterward lying in a boat at a business on Highway 182. He was arrested without incident, booked into the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center, and will also be transferred to Angola.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Gary Driskell said, “The teamwork between agencies and the relentless man-hours invested into locating and apprehending Cecil Stratton have paid off. I would like to thank the men and women of all the agencies involved for the teamwork they have displayed over the past three days.”
The investigation remains ongoing, and more charges are expected.
