Escaped inmate has been captured in Madison Co.
MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Authorities have captured an escaped inmate who walked off work detail Monday in Lawrence County and later led local officers on a chase in a stolen car. Jason Kirk was captured Thursday afternoon in the 5100 block of Highway 70 in west Madison County, according to the sheriff’s office. Kirk called the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department Wednesday with a stolen cell phone and said he wanted to turn himself in, according to a release from the sheriff’s office. Lawrence County coordinated with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals to locate Kirk in the Denmark area, according to the release. Officers determined a location by tracing the phone and then saturating the area where Kirk was later taken into custody, the release states. Kirk is being held in Madison County. Kirk was first thought to be in the area Tuesday when police received an anonymous tip that he could be at a Pilot truck stop in Jackson to see a family member who works there. Dozens of police officers swarmed the truck stop in northeast Jackson but found no sign of Kirk. Tuesday night, Jackson police spotted Kirk in a black Ford Mustang. After a high-speed chase, Kirk abandoned the stolen car at a rest stop on Interstate 40 and fled on foot into a wooded area, police have said. Jackson police, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals then collaborated in a search for Kirk in the area, bringing in K-9 units and helicopters, but were unable to locate him. Officials said Kirk was originally convicted of theft out of Chester County but was moved to Lawrence County earlier this year due to overcrowding.
