One of the two inmates who escaped Tuesday from the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio, has been arrested in western Kentucky, where the other also was last seen.
James Lee, 47, who had been in prison since last year on convictions for burglary, breaking and entering, safecracking, and a judicial sanction, was arrested Wednesday by police in Henderson, Ky., which is along the Ohio River across from Evansville, Ind. Bradley Gillespie, 50, imprisoned since 2016 on a murder conviction out of Paulding County, remained at large but had last been seen with Lee.
Henderson police saw a stolen vehicle early Wednesday that they believed was occupied by Gillespie and Lee. When officers tried to stop it, the vehicle took off, and the two escapees fled on foot when an ensuing chase ended in a crash.
Lee was taken into custody, authorities said, but Gillespie eluded capture.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said later Wednesday it had sent members of both its Aviation Unit and its Special Response Team to the Henderson area to assist with the search for Gillespie, with the latter unit operating under the authority of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The state patrol said it also continues to investigate how Lee and Gillespie escaped. Community safety near the Lima prison “remains the priority of local law enforcement, the Allen County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction,” the patrol said, and the prison “is operating with limited, controlled inmate movement.”
An internal investigation by ODRC is underway.
Gillespie is 6 feet tall, weighs 200 pounds, has blue eyes, and is bald. A reward for up to $20,000 is being offered by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Ohio State Highway Patrol for information leading to his arrest, the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force announced.
The highway patrol asked anyone who knows Gillespie’s whereabouts to contact the Findlay post’s tip line at 419-423-1414 or the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-866-4WANTED (1-866-492-6833). Anyone observing him should call 911.
First Published May 24, 2023, 12:08 p.m.
