It's sounds like the plot from the Shawshank Redemption, L.A. Police are searching for an inmate they believe escaped through a hole he dug in his cell wall.

Reuters reports the robbery suspect managed to cut an opening in the wall of his cell and escape through a 15-by-9-inch hole in just an hour.

According to police, the suspect is a 20-year-old homeless man, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds -- who escaped from a holding cell at a police station early Thursday morning.

Police say he appeared to have cut or torn a hole in the cell's drywall and ripped up a metal security mesh before crawling out and leaving through a fire exit.

Reuters reports he had been searched before being put in the cell, but when police checked on him an hour later, there's was a hole in the wall and he was gone.

Police Lt. Carlos Islas says he's "reluctant to put any blame on anyone at this point. Clearly there's a hole in the wall. Whether it's a construction flaw will be determined at a later date."

The department says it is inspecting cells at all 19 of the city's police stations. The man was still at large on Friday.