By By KERRY WHIPPLE BEAN – Publisher
Three weeks after he went on the run, Escambia County Sheriff's Department officials have their man.
County jail escapee William Mitchell was captured this week in Moss Point, Miss., said Sheriff Grover Smith, who credited county Deputy Jeff Bradley and the U.S. Marshal's Service with the arrest. Also assisting were the Escambia and Baldwin County sheriff's offices and Atmore and Brewton police departments.
Mitchell, 47, escaped May 4 after cutting a hole in the exercise yard fence at the jail in downtown Brewton. The inmates had spent most of the day in the exercise yard because of construction in their unit at the jail.
Officials speculate Mitchell, who was held on charges of receiving property and was also a bank robbery suspect, had somehow got to the roof of the jail and then jumped to freedom.
Inmates normally spend only a short time outside in the exercise yard, but the construction that day left them outdoors for a longer period.
Smith said security at the jail has been increased since Smith's escape. &#8220It's a lot better,” he said. &#8220All of the locks and doors have been installed, and we should finish that up by June 3.”
Smith said Mitchell was considered dangerous because he was an escapee, but he had not had any history of violence.
He had been held on a federal probation violation warrant from the Southern District of Florida stemming from a bank robbery in 1988.
As of Tuesday, Mitchell was still in custody in Mississippi. He was scheduled to appear today before Magistrate Judge Bivens.
There is a possibility another person involved would be charged in the escape, but Smith did not have any details Tuesday afternoon.