Escaped inmate flagged down a ride. Driver turned out to be a police officer, cops say
An inmate who escaped from law enforcement was hitchhiking when he flagged down a car for a ride Dec. 18, but the driver turned out to be a police officer, the Daily Independent reported.
Now Kentucky State Police say Allen Lewis has been taken back into custody, according to WVAH.
The 31-year-old escaped a member of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department while he was being transferred to another jail, WCHS reported.
Lewis escaped after complaining that his handcuffs were too tight, and the deputy transporting him stopped to adjust the restraints, per the Daily Independent. An official with the Greenup County Detention Center said a struggle broke out between the deputy and Lewis when the inmate got one hand free and he ran away, according to the newspaper.
After that Lewis tried hitchhiking when a driver stopped, but that person turned out to be a Morehead State University campus police officer who took the inmate into custody when he saw one handcuff still in place, the jail official said in the Daily Independent report.
Lewis was taken to Greenup County Detention Center, where he has been charged with first-degree escape, according to jail records.
Kentucky state troopers said Lewis was previously arrested following “a multi-county chase in September,” per WVAH. There was no word what led to the chase.
