Jail inmate back in custody after one week of freedom

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

BYRGE

A jail escapee has been recaptured and his mother arrested for aiding in his run from the law.

The escapee, Jeffery J. Byrge, 18, was arrested at Arms Apartments this weekend, just over one week after he fled Warren County Jail during booking. His mother, Teresa Pitts, is charged with facilitating escape for allegedly purchasing camping equipment for her son to hideout in the woods. It’s not known if Byrge actually camped while on the run.

Byrge fled the jail by running through a back door when it was opened by an employee who was entering the building. Byrge was in the booking area, located in the front portion of the jail. He was being booked on charges of violation of probation and evading arrest. The evading arrest charges came earlier in the day when he bolted from officers as he was being led from the Civic Center where he was arrested on the violation of probation warrants.

According to Sheriff Jackie Matheny, Byrge was captured after officers followed some people they thought might know his whereabouts. The surveillance paid off when they tailed them to Arms Apartments and found the teen.

“When they brought him out here, the first thing he said was ‘Jackie, I just screwed up,'” Matheny said. “I told him ‘you sure did.'”

Matheny said he is still not sure what prompted Byrge to bolt from custody given the relatively minor nature of the charges he faced. He now faces, in addition to his original charges, one count of misdemeanor escape which carries up to one year in jail.

Byrge’s mother is the second person charged with helping the teen while he was on the run. His friend, Jason Dacey, was sentenced to five days in jail after he admitted knowing the escapee’s whereabouts but refusing to give his friend up.