RAWL, W.Va. — A woman who walked out of the Pike County jail Wednesday evening is back behind bars, and she brought someone with her.

Police say Whitney Hurley, 36, of Freeburn, walked away from the jail just before 6 p.m. Wednesday and disappeared. She was arrested following a brief pursuit at Rawl.

She is now charged in Mingo County with fugitive from justice, fleeing with reckless indifference and fleeing on foot.

Police also arrested Lynna Ray-Jean Cantrell, 18, of Matewan, and charged her with aiding and abetting in a jail escape.

Both women are currently being held in the Southwestern Regional Jail in Holden, W.Va.

The post Second woman arrested when Pike escapee caught appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

UPDATE — Kentucky State Police reports that Hurley has been arrested.

PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky State Police is on the hunt for a Pike County woman who walked out of the Pike County Detention Center Wednesday evening.

Police say Whitney Loren Hurley, 36, of Freeburn, escaped from the jail just before 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Hurley had been booked in the jail Feb. 10, after being arrested for failure to appear in court for numerous cases. She was indicted twice last year in cases involving fentanyl and opiate trafficking. Since her arrest, she has also been indicted in three cases of bail jumping.

Hurley is described as 6 feet, 6 inches tall and 127 lbs., with brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing white shorts and a white t-shirt.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to contact Kentucky State Police Post 9 at (606) 433-7711.

The post Inmate walks away from Pike County jail appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PAINTSVILLE, Ky. — A Johnson County man was arrested early Sunday morning, after a Paintsville resident reported seeing someone breaking into his storage building.

Paintsville Police were called to an address on Pine Street reporting the break-in. The caller reported seeing a man running away with his weedeater, but said he dropped it near Broadway and continued running.

Police found the suspect — later identified as 19-year-old Devin Wells — at a nearby gas station and tried to talk to him, but said he ran away instead. Wells was arrested after a short chase, but that wasn’t the end of the story.

Police say as Wells was being taken to jail, he slipped out of his handcuffs and began kicking on the window to try to break it. The officer pulled over to try to secure him, but said Wells kicked him in the face and struck him several other times in the face and body. He was finally handcuffed again after the officer used pepper spray.

Wells now faces charges of burglary, assaulting an officer, attempted escape, fleeing police and other charges. He is being held in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center, in Paintsville.

The post Paintsville Police arrest man for burglary, assault, attempted escape appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

CORRECTION: The Pike County Sheriff’s Office notes that Price was not in the custody of a Pike County deputy when he escaped, as had been noted in the police report and reported earlier by Mountain Top News. The sheriff’s office says the deputy had delivered Price to the hospital, but he had been taken into triage by hospital staff, when he got away.

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A Pike County man was recaptured last week, after police say he escaped from a hospital while in custody.

Police were called to Highlands ARH just before 3 a.m. Thursday, over a report that Andrew Price, 20, of Feds Creek, had escaped while at the hospital. However, a search of the immediate area failed to locate him.

Then, just before 8 a.m., dispatch received a call reporting a suspicious person outside a home on Route 3, looking around a vehicle. When police got there, they found Price, although he initially gave a different name.

The police report says that as an officer approached to place him under arrest, he tried to pull away, but he was quickly apprehended. Police then discovered that he had allegedly broken into the house to steal a change of clothes and get rid of his hospital gown.

Price now faces charges of first-degree escape, second-degree burglary, resisting arrest and giving an officer false identifying information.

The post Pike inmate recaptured following escape from Prestonsburg hospital appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A woman who slipped away from police while being taken to jail was ultimately taken back into custody after a slip-and-fall.

A sheriff’s deputy arrested Alexus Rudder, 22, of Pikeville, on an outstanding warrant and an indictment warrant Monday night.

As she was being taken into the jail, she slipped away from the officer and ran away, still handcuffed, down Division Street during a rainstorm. The deputy followed but soon lost her, and officers spent the next 20 minutes looking for her.

They were ultimately able to review security footage and see that Rudder rounded a corner and hid in a dark area, then later crossed Hambley Boulevard and headed toward Myers Towers.

Police went to the apartment complex to search for her, but as they arrived, a man came out of the building saying a wet and handcuffed woman had fallen in the hallway. Police soon found her outside the front entrance and say she tried to run again, but she was quickly captured.

Rudder now faces charges of escape, fleeing police, wanton endangerment, trespassing and resisting arrest. She is being held in the Pike County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond.

The post Pike woman recaptured after slipping away from police on her way to jail appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

INEZ, Ky. — A West Virginia man arrested in Martin County on a fugitive warrant from his home state found himself in even more trouble when he allegedly ran out of the sheriff’s office in an attempt to escape.

Timothy Roberts, 44, of Fort Gay, was arrested last Thursday. He was taken to the sheriff’s office and was being held in a booking room.

While the booking room is typically locked, Roberts was able to get out by following a transport officer who was stepping out to take a phone call. From there, police say he ran out of the office and into a parking lot where the Harvest Festival was being set up.

He was recaptured when he ran down a creek bank and tripped, rolling into the creek.

In addition to the charges waiting for him in West Virginia, he is now charged with second-degree escape and fleeing police in Martin County.

The post W.Va. fugitive recaptured after running away appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

SALYERSVILLE, Ky. — A Magoffin County man was allegedly prepared in case police tried to take him to jail, after officers discovered him with a handcuff key.

The Magoffin County Sheriff’s Office had pulled over Matthew Owens, 50, of Salyersville, and determined him to be wanted on an indictment warrant after being charged with meth trafficking earlier this year. When police told him to turn around to be cuffed, they said he tried to run away instead, but he was stopped with a taser.

When he was arrested, Owens was double-cuffed, so the cuffs wouldn’t tighten up on him. But when they got him out of the car later, they heard the left cuff tighten up, indicating he had somehow managed to unlock it. That’s when they looked back in the car and saw the key in the seat underneath where he had been sitting.

Owens now faces charges of third-degree escape, fleeing police, resisting arrest and menacing, in addition to the original charges.

The post Police: Suspect tried to get out of cuffs with key appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A Floyd County inmate who was arrested in West Virginia after escaping over the weekend is beginning to face the consequences of his actions, and not just in the form of new charges.

Thomas Price, 37, of Williamsport, was being held in the Floyd County Detention Center on pending charges involving pointing a gun at and running from Johnson County deputies, as well as leading Prestonsburg Police on a 110 mph chase.

On Sunday, he was taken to Highlands ARH for treatment of an unspecified medical condition, when he allegedly got away from a sheriff’s deputy and fled. He was arrested the next evening near Barboursville, W.Va.

Price is still being held in West Virginia, awaiting extradition to Kentucky, so the new charges from his escape have not yet been filed.

However, he had a motion to reduce his $25,000 bond pending in Floyd Circuit Court. On Thursday, Circuit Judge Johnny Ray Harris reviewed that request and not only rejected the decrease, but raised it instead.

Price will now be held on a $100,000 full cash bond when he is returned to the Floyd County Detention Center.

The post Judge’s quadruples escapee’s bond appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — The woman who allegedly helped a Floyd County inmate escape earlier this week is now facing criminal charges of her own.

Thomas Price, 37, of Williamsport, was being held in the Floyd County Detention Center on pending charges in Floyd and Johnson counties. Those charges were related to incidents back in February, when he allegedly pointed a gun at authorities and then fled in Johnson County, then fled Prestonsburg Police in a chase that reached speeds of 110 mph.

On Sunday, he was taken to Highlands ARH for treatment of an unspecified medical condition, when he allegedly got away from a sheriff’s deputy and fled.

Prestonsburg Police have said they believe he was assisted by Cindy Rodriguez, 49, of Prestonsburg, who allegedly drove the getaway car. She was arrested Monday morning in Prestonsburg.

Thomas was arrested Monday evening in West Virginia. He is being held in the Western Regional Jail in Barboursville, awaiting extradition to Kentucky.

Rodriguez is charged with facilitation to escape and hindering prosecution. The escape charge is a felony, punishable by 5-to-10 years in prison.

Rodriguez has since been released from jail on an unsecured bond.

The post Floyd woman charged with assisting escape appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. — An inmate who escaped from custody Sunday night while receiving medical treatment at Highlands ARH is back in custody, after being arrested in West Virginia.

Thomas Price, 37, of Williamsport, was being held in the Floyd County Detention Center, when he was taken to Highlands ARH for treatment of an unspecified medical condition. At the hospital, he was able to get away from a sheriff’s deputy and flee with an accomplice, who police have identified as a Cindy Rodriguez.

According to a statement on the department’s Facebook page, Prestonsburg Police were able to access Price’s Facebook Messenger account, where they learned he had purchased a prepaid cell phone following his escape. With that information, they were able to ping his phone and find out his location, giving that information for West Virginia authorities who arrested him Monday evening.

Price was being held in the Floyd County Detention Center ever since his arrest back in February. At that time, Price had been wanted for fleeing police in Johnson County, allegedly pointing a gun at officers in the process. On Feb. 20, he was spotted in Prestonsburg, prompting police to try to arrest him. He fled in his car instead, leading to a chase reaching speeds of up to 110 mph on U.S. 23, before he turned onto Abbott Creek Road.

Price’s car was found abandoned on Abbott Creek a short time later. Police continued to canvass the area until he was spotted later that evening on a local resident’s porch, asking to use their phone.

At that time, he was charged with fleeing police, wanton endangerment and numerous other charges in Floyd County, and similar charges in Johnson County. He will now face even more charges when he is returned to Kentucky in the coming days.

The post Update: Escaped Floyd inmate captured in W.Va. appeared first on Mountain Top Media.