By By Lisa Tindell – news editor
Escambia County sheriff's officials are emphasizing their surveillance of county jail inmates after an alleged attempt to drop off drugs in the jail's recreation yard.
A Brewton woman and a 16-year-old juvenile were arrested Thursday in connection with an attempt to get drugs into the Escambia County jail.
Escambia County Sheriff's deputies chased the the juvenile down Belleville Avenue on foot Thursday afternoon after the teen was seen throwing a package over a fence around the Escambia County Detention Center, Chief Deputy John Gleaton said.
Brittany Amber Deslonde, 21, of Brewton, was the driver of the vehicle. She was arrested for her connection to the incident, Gleaton said.
Corrections Lt. Emma Williams, Lt. Kenneth Brazile and Gleaton stopped the vehicle at the intersection of Rankin Street and Belleville Avenue.
Deslonde was charged with promoting prison contraband and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She was also charged with having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle at the time of the arrest.
The juvenile was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing, third degree and promoting prison contraband. He was transported to the juvenile detention center in Bay Minette Thursday afternoon, Gleaton said.
Criminal trespassing and promoting prison contraband are felony offenses, Gleaton said.
The pair is also suspects in relation to two previous attempts to introduce contraband into the jail, Gleaton said. The package recovered Thursday from the exercise area contained just under a gram of marijuana.
After officers confiscated the marijuana a search of cells followed, Gleaton said.
Deputies regularly perform searches at the jail to eliminate contraband from the cells, Gleaton said.