U.S. marshals are searching for an inmate who escaped from an Alabama jail, terrorized multiple people and abandoned one of the victims in metro Atlanta, authorities said.
Authorities found that victim and his vehicle early Tuesday in Douglasville, but there was no sign of fugitive Shane Anthony Vernon.
Vernon, who previously escaped Oct. 29, got away again about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Coosa County Sheriff Terry Wilson said in a news release.
Coosa County is about 65 miles southeast of Birmingham.
“An investigation revealed that Vernon was allowed out of his cell to use the inmate telephone system,” the sheriff’s office said in the release. “While Vernon was using the phone, he noticed that the Correctional Officer on duty had failed to properly secure one of the doors in the area.”
Vernon, 27, went through that door, gained access to the ceiling of the jail, went around four security doors and escaped from the facility, according to authorities.
The officer’s actions are under investigation.
After escaping, Vernon broke into a home in Rockford, Ala., where he robbed the residents, tied them up and drove off in their 2016 Ford Fusion, the sheriff’s office said. He later dumped that vehicle just south of the Coosa-Elmore county line and ran into the woods.
He turned up again Monday evening in Titus, Ala., where authorities said he tied up another family at gunpoint, stole a red mini bike and abandoned it, too.
That same day, Vernon kidnapped a man in Wetumpka, Ala., in Elmore County and took his vehicle, according to officials. The vehicle and the victim were found Tuesday in Douglas County, Elmore Sheriff Bill Franklin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I have no idea” why Vernon drove to Douglasville, “and our victim has no idea,” Franklin said.
While Franklin said the victim was traumatized, “all indications are that he is OK.”
Elmore County investigators met with Douglasville police and the Wetumpka victim Tuesday about the case.
“When (Vernon) is captured,” Franklin said, “we want to put together the best case we can.”
Vernon is considered armed and dangerous. He is 5-foot-7 and about 130 pounds, authorities said. He has tattoos on his right fist, right forearm, left shoulder blade and the right side of his neck.
Anyone with information about Vernon's whereabouts is asked to call 911 or Central Alabama CrimeStoppers at 334-215-STOP.
Vernon is facing 12 charges in connection with the incident, according to WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Ala.
The Elmore County District Attorney’s office said he faces three counts of robbery, two counts of burglary and one count of kidnapping. Wilson said warrants have also been signed for second-degree escape, two counts of robbery, two counts of imprisonment and one count of theft of property.
He was originally arrested on burglary and theft charges, AL.com reported.
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