By David Lazenby
Editor
JASPER — In what may be the biggest jailbreak in Walker County history, a dozen inmates scaled a two-story fence topped with razor-wire on the backside of the Walker County Jail in downtown Jasper Sunday evening.
All but one of the escapees who fled the facility around 6:30 p.m. Sunday have been captured. Most never got out of Jasper. However, two escapees were arrested at a Flying J truck stop on Daniel Payne Road in Birmingham around 2 a.m. today.
Larry Inman Jr, age 29 of Parrish was caught at the travel center off of Interstate 65 at 1:56 a.m. Ethan Howard Pearl, age 24 of Jasper was arrested near the Birmingham business at 2:06 a.m.
“A lot of them were caught here in the city,” Walker County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dayron Bridges said. “We caught one walking toward Townley.”
Christopher Micheal Smith was caught near Townley at 4:21 a.m. according to the Sheriff’s Facebook page.
Brady Kilpatrick of Cordova is the only inmate who has not yet been captured. Kilpatrick was in jail for possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. A 0 reward is being offered for information that leads to Kilpatrick’s arrest. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Walker County Sheriff’s Office at (205) 302-6464.
Bridges said surrounding police agencies were “a great help” in apprehending the eleven inmates who were arrested without incident other than some foot chases.
Some of the escapees had minor injuries, most from the the razor wire fence they scrambled over. Bridges said the inmates used an extra jail uniform to cushion their crawl over the sharp razor fencing that surrounds the outdoors area of the jail located at 2001 2nd Ave. in downtown Jasper.
“They got cut up; a couple of them did,” Bridges said.
The area of the fence the inmates crossed over is in the southeastern-most corner of the fence. The razor wire appeared slightly flattened on Monday morning where the inmates maneuvered over it. The inmate uniform used to aid the escapees had been left behind, but it had been removed by authorities by Monday morning.
Bridges said all of the inmates were still wearing prison-issued uniforms when they were caught.
During Bridges’ 24-year career with the Walker County Sheriff’s Department, Sunday’s incident was the first time more than one inmate escaped at the same time.
“Those were like trustees that walked off,” he said about previous escapes. “This is the first time in my career that anyone has escaped from inside the jail.”
Walker County Sheriff James E. Underwood is expected to give a press conference regarding the escape today at 2:30 p.m.
The inmates who escaped Sunday night are:
— Steven Blake Lamb, age 28 of Quinton (in jail for Attempted Murder, Robbery 1st, Theft 1st, Reckless Endangerment, Probation Revocation).
— Christopher Micheal Smith, age 19, of Jasper (in jail for Attempted Murder, Burglary 1st, Unlawful Breaking and Entering, Theft 2nd);
— Larry Inman Jr, age 29 of Parrish (in jail for 2 counts of Receiving Stolen Property, Attempting to Elude, Failure to Appear);
— Ethan Howard Pearl, age 24 of Jasper (in jail for Resisting Arrest, Obstructing Government Operations, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Promoting Prison Contraband, Failure to appear on Theft 4th);
— Johnny Richard Hunter, age 26 of Jasper (in jail for Burglary 3rd, Theft 4th, Possession of Burglar’s Tools, Escape 1st , Court Referral Office Violation);
— Christopher Cole Spain, age 18 of Jasper (in jail for Failure to Appear on Disorderly Conduct);
— Kristopher Keith Secrest, age 20 of Oakman (in jail for Felony Domestic Violence 2nd and Giving False Information to Law Enforcement);
— Quadrekas Latoddrick Key, age 21 of Parrish (in jail for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Attempting to Elude);
— Timothy Chaz Cooper, age 28 of Cordova (in jail for Breaking and Entering Motor Vehicle and Theft 4th );
— Steven Sanford Hartley, age 27 of Hoover (in jail for Theft of Property 1st ); and
The eleventh escapee captured, Christopher Micheal Smith, was arrested this morning around 4:21 a.m. The first inmate captured was McGuff at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Sheriff’s Facebook page.