FREMONT, Ohio — Police say a drone helped them track down an inmate shortly after he escaped from a northern Ohio jail.

Fremont detective Roger Oddo says the department had just finished its second day of training with the $4,000 drone when the call came about the escape Tuesday afternoon.

Oddo says officers had launched the drone to search when an officer on the ground spotted the inmate crawling in a ditch.

The officer alerted the drone operator that the suspect was directly below the drone and other officers closed in.

Oddo says the department plans to use the drone to track suspects, locate missing children and map crime scenes.

The 31-year-old inmate is back behind bars at the Sandusky County Jail.

First Published March 9, 2016, 3:34 p.m.