LANSING — Officials foiled a suspected escape attempt at the Macomb Correctional Facility, where two inmates left makeshift dummies in their bunks and headed for the fence, a spokesman confirmed Sunday.

The apparent attempted escape happened at dinner time, just before 6 p.m. Saturday. An officer in the tower spotted the prisoners walking toward the fence, after walking alongside and behind their unit while other prisoners walked to the chow hall, spokesman Chris Gautz told the Free Press.

The prisoners, who were cellmates, could face new charges of attempting to escape from the facility in New Haven. Gautz confirmed their identities as: Chakaris Isiah Loury, 24, who in 2015 was sentenced to 25 years for assault with intent to commit murder; and Darious Ellington Culpepper, 27, who in 2016 was sentenced to eight years for armed robbery.

Prison officials conducted an emergency count and found makeshift dummies in both of the prisoners' bunks. Gautz said the prisoners rolled up their coats and other clothing and positioned the materials under their blankets so it would look to corrections officers like they were in their bunks.

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"They claimed they were going to fight, but because they put stuff in their beds, we certainly treat it as an attempted escape attempt," Gautz said.

"They never got more than 10 feet from the fence and they never touched the fence. The staff was incredibly alert and responded right away. The public was never in danger."

The prisoners did not appear to have any tools or other items to help them get through, under, or over the fence, Gautz said.

Both prisoners had Level 4 security ratings — which is the second-highest rating.

Prison towers are only intermittently staffed. That's been an issue with corrections officers represented by the Michigan Corrections Organization, who say the towers need to be staffed to enhance safety and prevent escapes.

Byron Osborn, president of the Michigan Corrections Organization, said Saturday night's incident was another prime example of how effective the towers are in preventing escapes.”

Osborn said the towers and security vehicles that patrol the outside perimeters of state prisons "are very effective in deterring and preventing prison escapes," but as a cost-cutting move several years ago the department "made the decision to close most of the towers and discontinue full-time use of the perimeter vehicles."

Gautz said the towers are manned when the prison sallyport — used to allow trucks to enter and exit the facility — are open, and when higher-security prisoners are outside their units, such as during chow time. The prisons also rely on monitoring of cameras and fences that send electronic alarms when touched, he said.

"The system we have in place for intermittent monitoring worked as designed in this case," he said.

Escapes from Michigan state prisons are relatively rare and most that do happen are very brief. The most recent to occur was in 2017, according to Gautz. There are fewer than a dozen escape attempts most years, records show.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.