The Associated Press
MADISONVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A Hopkins County deputy jailer has been charged with assault and helping two inmates escape from jail, though the inmates were quickly caught.
State police said Willie D. Hurst, 26, was charged with third degree assault after officials confronted him about the Saturday afternoon escape.
State police received a call at 6:04 p.m. EST that two inmates had escaped from the Hopkins County Detention Facility. By the time state police arrived at the jail, police had caught Derek C. Early, 27, of Paducah, and Sammie L. Wallace, 30, of Madisonville, state police said.
Early and Wallace were charged with second degree escape.
State police did not say how the two escaped with Hurst’s help.
Hurst was also charged with tampering with evidence and complicity in the escape, state police said. He is jailed in the Hopkins County complex where he worked. Hurst’s employment status with the jail was not immediately available.
No deputies were injured during the assault.