James Warren Adams III is being held in the Warren County Jail awaiting arraignment on an escape charge, investigators said.
INITIAL REPORT:
Warren County Sheriff’s deputies apprehended one of two men who reportedly escaped a minimum-security jail in Warren County in separate incidents hours apart.
Logan Michael Lee Fithen was one of two inmates who escaped from the Community Correctional Center, administered by the Talbert House. Fithen was apprehended Friday at approximately 3:30 p.m. near Senate Drive and Ohio 63 in Monroe.
Officials received a tip of a suspicious person in the area, and personnel from the Monroe Police Department, Mason Police Department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office surrounded the area.
“After tracking the suspect for approximately one hour, he was apprehended,” a sheriff’s office press release said.
He is now currently held in the Warren County Jail on a charge of escape.
Officials were continuing to search for James Warren Adams III and encouraged anyone with any information to contact the Warren County Communications Center at 513-695-2525.
Fithen, 23, and Adams, 34, are accused of escaping from the Community Corrections Center of Butler, Warren and Clermont Counties, a state-run facility for low-security risks convicted of non-violent offenses. The facility is on Ohio 63, across from two state prisons in Turtlecreek Twp., Warren County.
RELATED: Search underway for 2 escapees from community corrections center in Warren County
“The Community Corrections Center is a state-funded minimum-security lockdown facility run by the Talbert House. They are in no way a part of the Warren County Jail or Sheriff’s Office,” Warren County Chief Deputy Barry Riley said in an email response.
“Because they are in our jurisdiction, we are the primary agency to respond for calls for service,” Riley added.
The Talbert House is “a community-wide nonprofit network of services focusing on prevention, assessment, treatment, and reintegration. Services are provided at multiple sites throughout Southwest Ohio for children, adults, and families,” according to its website.
The sheriff’s office was notified of Fithen’s escape at 12:36 a.m. and Adams’ escape at 3 a.m., according to a press release issued by the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.
Adams was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt with ‘CCC’ on the back and khaki pants.
He is described as 5-feet-11-inches and 230 pounds with a shaved head, blue eyes and multiple tattoos, one large tattoo on the left side of his neck, according to the press release.
RELATED: Search on for escapee from community corrections center in Warren County
Both were serving sentences in felony drug cases. Adams was convicted in Warren County, Fithen Clermont County, according to the releases.
The community corrections center is run through a contract with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
“This facility is not operated by DRC, so you will want contact the facility governing board directly. This is not a jail or a prison, this is a community correctional-based facility. Generally speaking, this is a low security facility and the offenders who reside there are permitted to leave the facility for appointments, etc.,” JoEllen Smith of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
RELATED: 7 inmates suspected in aiding Warren County escape
Officials from the Talbert House, based in Cincinnati, could not be reached for comment.
Riley declined to comment on the capability of the security at the facility to pursue anyone who leaves without permission.
In June, seven inmates there were indicted in connection with the escape of two other inmates from the facility in May.
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