Fugitive Logan jail inmate arraigned on escape charge

Credit: Courtesy: Clark County Sheriff's Office

Credit: Courtesy: Clark County Sheriff's Office

An inmate who escaped from a Logan County Jail work program on Tuesday and was later captured remains in jail without bond.

Joseph Lee Knox was arraigned on an escape charge out of Logan County Thursday morning in Clark County. He was also arraigned on receiving stolen property charge.

Sgt. Scott Woodruff said Wednesday evening that police received information at about 5:30 p.m. that Knox was possibly staying at the Executive Inn, 325 W. Columbia St.

“We located him about two blocks from there,” Woodruff said. Knox was taken into custody at about 6:30 p.m. while walking near West Columbia and North Yellow Springs streets.

A front desk clerk at the inn told News Center 7’s Layron Livingston that Knox came into the business earlier in the day and asked about renting a room. The clerk said he ran Knox off.

Knox was last seen at about 10:30 Tuesday morning, when he walked away from the garden area outside the secured section of the jail, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office said. Kitchen staff and inmates alerted corrections staff that he was missing. Knox had been assigned to work as a trustee at the jail.

He was serving time on contempt charges. He went in on July 19 and his sentence was to be completed Oct. 22, according to the sheriff’s office. Knox also was wanted in Madison County on a contempt of court violation.

Woodruff said Knox also has an outstanding 2010 warrant in Clark County for receiving stolen property. “He is being booked in on that local warrant,” Woodruff said, and will be detained in the Clark County Jail.

Earlier Wednesday, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority issued an alert for law enforcement officers to be on the lookout for Knox, believed to be in a maroon 1993 Ford F150 XLT, bearing license tag FLB 9378, driven by his father.

Woodruff said Knox was not armed when he was apprehended and police have not located that vehicle or Knox’s father.

Knox, 36, is suspected of committing one burglary in Logan County and another in Champaign County on Tuesday.

At about 7 p.m. Tuesday, a woman reported that a man matching the description of Knox knocked on her door in the 5000 block of Ohio 47 West and asked for gas. The woman said the man was riding a red dirt bike.

Police determined Knox stole the dirt bike from a residence in Bellefontaine.

At 8:48 p.m., the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 6000 block of North Ludlow Road in Urbana after a caller reported returned home to find a man inside. The resident chased the suspect out of the house, and the suspect reportedly fired shots at the resident as he fled. A dirt bike was found near the scene.

A description of the suspect matches that of Knox, according to the sheriff’s office.

At about 10 p.m., West Liberty police responded to a burglary complaint, and the homeowner reported that a .22-caliber handgun and ammunition were taken from a gun safe. A helmet was located in a nearby cemetery, police said.

Deputies will be working with the Logan County Prosecutor’s Office to file an escape charge.