Police1.com Report / Critical Alert
The Associated Press
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Eight inmates escaped from a Tennessee jail Tuesday morning, but one was recaptured soon after, police said.
The men were being held on charges that ranged from drunken driving to attempted murder, Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson said. Guards at the Sullivan County jail found the men missing at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and a search began immediately.
According to authorities, the men escaped by using a plumbing access in a wall and then an air duct to get to the roof of the jail.
“They tied their uniforms together and went over the roof,” Anderson said.
The inmates then stole a pickup truck from the county schools garage nearby and drove it through a fence to get away, the sheriff said.
The fugitives, all white men, were identified as Joseph Samples, 22, of Afton, Tenn.; George Simpson, 27, of Terre Haute, Ind.; Donald Joiner of Bristol, Tenn.; Brian Morrell, 24, of Piney Flats, Tenn.; and Rodney Gilbert, 26, Jeff Begley, 29, and Josh Mosely, 25, all of Kingsport, Tenn.
Deputies captured James Reynolds of Kingsport, who was being held on charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, forgery, theft and drunken driving.
The jail, which holds suspects who are awaiting trial and inmates convicted of state crimes, has suffered from crowded conditions, officials said.
Blountville is about 100 miles northeast of Knoxville, just south of the Virginia state line.