Georgia Inmate Escapes Sheriff's Office Car Wash, Later Recaptured

A Georgia inmate is back in police custody after escaping from a sheriff’s office car wash Thursday morning in a sedan driven by a woman.

Isaac Kindle, a 21-year-old inmate trustee, escaped around 9:30 a.m. while working at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office car wash, the department said in a Facebook post. Inmate trustees are prisoners who get extra jobs and trust because of good behavior.

Kindle was being held without bond on charges of failure to appear and theft by shoplifting, according to jail records reviewed by CBS Atlanta.

The woman driving the sedan was later stopped and arrested in Cobb County but Kindle was no longer in the vehicle. Authorities believed he had left Douglas County but said there was no known threat to the public.

The escape drew criticism from Reform Room Solutions Group, a community justice and reform organization. The group commented on the sheriff’s office’s initial Facebook post, accusing the department of delaying its report and suggesting it acted only after Reform Room reported the escape.

“We hope you catch him, we know your office and county has challenges with ineptitude,” the Reform Room’s comment read.

Kindle was apprehended later Thursday in Powder Springs, Georgia, police said, some six miles from where he went missing. He was escorted back to Douglas County around 5:45 p.m.

“While the ‘Reformers’ were talking, the DCSO was working. This is NOT what ‘inept’ looks like,” the sheriff’s office wrote in an updated Facebook post, announcing his capture.

The department also shared video of Sheriff Tim Pounds meeting Kindle when he arrived back at the jail. “What makes you think you can do what you do?” Pounds asked.

As he escorted Kindle into the jail, Pounds added: “We don’t put up with no foolishness in Douglas County.”

The Independent has contacted the sheriff’s department for comment.