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Last updated on Tuesday, April 29, 2014
(HENRY CO.) - Two men who escaped from the Henry County Jail have been captured.
The men identified as Michael Bertram and Johnny Dennis. Bertram was in jail for theft. Dennis was accused of robbery and battery.
Authorities think Bertram, who was assigned to getting food for the jail, hid in the kitchen pantry overnight. Then at around 4:15am, Sheriff Butch Baker says, Dennis also went into the pantry. Baker says the men went through the top of the pantry, into another level of the jail building. Then they were then able break through the wall and onto the roof.
Deputies are not sure if the men are armed, but there is a knife missing from the kitchen . The jail keeps three knives in the kitchen, all connected to the counter with a steel cable. The men managed to disconnect two of them. Deputies found one of the knives still in the pantry. One of the men may be armed with the other one.
The two men took off their striped jail attire, so they would have been wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants at the time of their escape.
Sheriff's Departments from surrounding counties were alerted and aided in the search.
The two inmates were captured just nine hours after their escape in New Castle.
Henry County Sheriff Butch Baker says the men were found shortly after 1 p.m. in a south side neighborhood near Baker Park.
The duo was found at a the home of Steve Wilson, an old friend of Dennis in the neighborhood where he grew up. Baker says the pair was apparently trying to gather clothes, money and a ride to further their escape.
Wilson told police the men came to his home around 10 a.m. and drank coffee and smoked cigarettes.
Wilson says Dennis has been in and out of jail his whole life, so he was not surprised to see him back in his old neighborhood. Wilson confronted the two men after seeing their mug shots on TV. Wilson told the men they had two choices to turn themselves in or leave.
The men, who did not have a plan or any money were hoping to make it to Texas where Dennis' mother lives.
While Bertram and Dennis were formulating their escape, a Henry County Sheriff's Department deputy arrived at the home and arrested them without incident.
At the time of his escape, Bertram was due to be sent to the Department of Correction for a theft conviction while Dennis was awaiting trial on robbery and battery charges.
Both men now face additional escape charges, which could add three to five years to their sentence.
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