July 30, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
A man who escaped from custody after appearing in General Sessions Court Thursday morning has been apprehended.
Acting on a tip, detectives of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department found James Ricky Ashford, Jr. inside a shed by a residence on McMinnville Highway, only hours after he made his getaway. Ashford was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Sheriff’s Department where he has been charged with escape.
According to Chief Deputy Robert Patrick, Ashford was placed in custody during court Thursday morning due to multiple outstanding warrants against him for violation of probation.
“Ashford was handcuffed and escorted across the street along with other inmates from the court house to the Sheriff’s Department when he bolted from a court officer and the correction staff and ran toward North Mountain Street near central dispatch before getting into an early 2000’s model (blue) Chevrolet pickup truck and fleeing the area. The incident occurred at 10:16 a.m.,” said Chief Deputy Patrick.
The information on Ashford was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) data base and a Be On The Lookout (BOLO) was issued to surrounding counties. Although he was being taken there Ashford had not been incarcerated at the jail facility at the time of his escape.