11.13
Tuesday morning around 9:45, a Walker County Jail trustee doing work at LaFayette PD snuck off. Around 11 AM he was noticed missing, launching a multi-state manhunt.
Seven hours later, Leonard Anthony Martin was arrested on his way home to Hixson, TN:
- WQCH Radio, 11/12/13: “AN ESCAPED WALKER COUNTY JAIL TRUSTEE DIDN’T TASTE FREEDOM FOR LONG. LEONARD ANTHONY MARTIN WALKED AWAY FROM HIS WORK DETAIL AT THE LAFAYETTE POLICE DEPARTMENT TUESDAY MORNING, AND LEFT WITH A FRIEND WHO WAS WAITING IN A CAR.
- “SHERIFF STEVE WILSON SAID A CELL PHONE PROVIDER ‘PINGED’ THE PHONE MARTIN HAD BEEN USING, AND FOUND THE PAIR IN A WALMART PARKING LOT IN MARION COUNTY, TENNESSEE.
- “IT TOOK AROUND 7 HOURS TO TRACK MARTIN DOWN, AFTER HIS ESCAPE AT 9:44 AM. HE WILL FACE AN ADDITIONAL FIVE YEARS, ON TOP OF HIS JAIL TIME FOR A METH CONVICTION. THE DRIVER OF THE CAR INVOLVED, JESSICA ROGERS, WAS ALSO ARRESTED FOR AIDING THE ESCAPE.”
Why was someone on the “most wanted” list a few months ago left to work by himself in downtown LaFayette?
Walker Jail trustees are a bit too trusted… We’ve had beer parties before, inmates wandering off, guys unsupervised. Some who use their time away from supervision to sneak things into the jail for themselves or others.
Sheriff Wilson could put a stop to this by tightening up departmental policies about trustees and disciplining the people who supervise them – but consistency and discipline would be a 180° change from everything Wilson has done in the last sixteen years he’s been Sheriff. It’ll never happen, at least not until a trustee runs off and kills somebody.
Run-off election for LaFayette Council Ward 1 (Wardlaw v. Garmany) will be December 3rd. Early voting begins next Monday, lasting through the 26th. Early voting will be held at the Courthouse elections office, while the actual vote on December 3rd will be at LaFayette City Hall.
Here’s the LU Q&A for that race, which only Mr. Wardlaw bothered to participate in.
A date for the upcoming special election to replace Jay Neal as GA Representative for House District 2 has been set for January 7th. Runoff, if necessary, will be Feb. 4th.
Early voting for that race will begin December 17th at the Courthouse and run through January 3rd, except for on holiday and county furlough days (Dec. 24-26, Dec. 30-Jan 1). Voter registration deadline is December 9th.
HD 2 represents West Walker County, along with parts of Catoosa and Whitfield. In Walker you can only vote in this race if you live in LaFayette, Rock Spring, Armuchee, part of Chickamauga, and part of the Center Post precincts.
Candidates interesting in being on the ballot have to register in Atlanta at the Secretary of State office, November 18-20, since this is a state election.
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