Escaped inmate captured
Published 3:30 pm Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Multiple law enforcement agencies took part in a manhunt Wednesday afternoon when a prisoner escaped from the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, Fla.
A be-on-the-lookout was put out through the Decatur County E-911 for the escaped convict, Josh White, who was last seen at around 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to the Chattahoochee Police Department, White was part of the Mentally Retarded Defendants Program at the hospital and was believed to be heading into Georgia. White was being held for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Tracking dogs from the Apalachee Correctional Institution, Florida State Hospital and Gadsden County, Fla., as well as the Georgia State Patrol helicopter were used to track the man.
Decatur County Sheriff’s deputies and Georgia State Patrol troopers along with the other agencies created a perimeter by setting up and patrolling main roads in the southwest Decatur County area—97 South, Booster Club, Jinks Crossing and Dell roads.
White was captured by law enforcement officers, including DCSO Investigator Victor Strickland, less than three hours from his time of escape at approximately 3:30 p.m. He ran out from a wooded area to where the perimeter was set up by officers.
DCSO Capt. Chip Nix said they were able to set up a tight perimeter of the area thanks to all the law enforcement agencies involved in the manhunt.