Hi,
c) They immediately found a exit to escape through, but they were surrounded by the
police. Finally, they were caught.
Why should I put this word?
'Escape' is not a transitive verb. You can't say 'They escaped an exit'. Instead, you'd have to say something like 'They escaped through/via an exit'.
In answer to your question, I guess you could say 'They . . found an exit to escape', in the sense of 'They .. found an exit in order to escape'.
However, the whole sentence is rather awkward and unidiomatic. It's much more natural to say something like 'They immediately found a way out'.
Best wishes, Clive