By MIKE STOBBE
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA- A handcuffed drug suspect ran out an open garage door at the troubled Fulton County Jail, sparking a brief manhunt months after another inmate fled from the county courthouse and allegedly killed four people.
James Henderson, 25, was recaptured about four hours later with his hands still behind him in plastic restraints, police said.
Thursday’s escape followed the March escape of rape suspect Brian Nichols, who is accused of overpowering a sheriff’s deputy at the Fulton County Courthouse, grabbing her gun and killing the judge overseeing his trial and a court reporter. He’s also accused of killing a sheriff’s deputy and a federal agent after fleeing the courthouse.
Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Nikita Adams Hightower said Henderson was under the supervision of Atlanta police when the escape occurred, but added that an investigation was continuing.
“Every (escape) incident is a serious incident and is of concern to the sheriff,” Hightower said.
Last year, the federal government took over the jail for six months over a series of escapes, other security lapses and squalid conditions. In one case, an inmate escaped while still in costume from the filming of a rap video at the jail earlier that day. Other inmates have escaped the old-fashioned way: tying bed sheets together and climbing out windows.
Atlanta police had arrested Henderson early Thursday on charges involving marijuana possession, child endangerment and reckless conduct. He was later loaded into a police vehicle with three other suspects in unrelated cases and fled out the door while being unloaded at the garage.
Henderson was caught when a resident of a nearby neighborhood spotted him hiding at a home under construction. Obstruction and escape counts were added to the earlier charges.