Three of four escapees from Ohio jail arrested in North Carolina

GALLIPOLIS, Ohio —  The three men who escaped from an Ohio county jail early Sunday were “captured without incident” early Monday in North Carolina, police said.

Christopher Clemente, 24, Brynn Martin, 40, and Troy McDaniel Jr., 30, were captured and are awaiting extradition to Ohio, police said.

The fourth man, Lawrence R. Lee III, 29, is believed to have accompanied the other three but fled at the time of the arrests, a release from Gallia County, Ohio, Sheriff Matt Champlin said.

Police in Cary, N.C., said Lee is “not believed to be a danger” but warned the public not to approach him.

Cary police said the North Carolina Highway Patrol had alerted them that the men were in the area, which is about 370 miles southeast of Gallipolis, Ohio, where the jail is located. The two agencies, along with Raleigh, N.C., police and the Wake County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office, remained on site for two hours after the arrests to “conduct a thorough search,” police said.

Champlin has said authorities believe the escaped inmates had help from at least one person outside the jail. The four inmates overpowered two officers with a homemade weapon, forced open a secure door, entered the jail’s administrative wing and stole keys to a corrections officer’s vehicle and drove it about a block away, where another vehicle awaited them, Champlin said.

Champlin said authorities in Pennsylvania located the suspected getaway vehicle and believed Clemente was in the area, prompting the evacuation of the Westmoreland Mall outside Greensburg, Pa.

Clemente was being held for on two felony counts of complicity in trafficking drugs. Martin, who Champlin said escaped for the second time from the jail, is charged with breaking and entering, receiving stolen property, two counts of failure to appear, and escape — all felonies. McDaniel was being held for failure to appear from Gallia County Juvenile Court and Lee faces charges of felony identity fraud and two misdemeanors: obstructing official business and assault.