Work-release inmate bolts but is captured

Kenneth Hart/The Independent

Sandy Hook May 01, 2008 12:28 am

— A work-release inmate from the Carter County Detention Center fled from his weed-cutting detail in Elliott County Tuesday but was recaptured about an hour later, police said.
Jeremy S. Barnett, 23, of Garrison, was part of a group of inmates who were cutting weeds near the Rattlesnake Ridge water plant. He bolted from the detail about noon, Kentucky State Police at Morehead said.
Officers from the Morehead post, the KSP’s canine and aircraft sections, the Carter and Elliott County sheriff’s departments and the Little Sandy Correctional Complex conducted a ground and air search of the northeastern section of Elliott County for the escapee.
Within just over an hour, personnel aboard a KSP helicopter spotted Barnett in the back yard of a residence on Horton Flat Road, north of Sandy Hook, the KSP said. The airborne troopers guided officers on the ground to Barnett’s location, and Barnett was taken back into custody without incident.
Barnett was turned over to Carter County sheriff’s deputies for transport back to that county’s detention center, the KSP said.
Barnett has been charged with escape, a Class D felony that could add up to five years to his sentence. Other charges could be added, pending the outcome of an investigation, the KSP said.
KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.