by Chris Cannon
SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - An inmate found a way out of the Bedford County Jail sometime early Tuesday morning and was on the run for more than 24 hours.
19-year-old Andrew Marshall escaped from an isolation cell on the second floor of the jail in Shelbyville.
Officers noticed Marshall was missing when they brought him breakfast at 6:15 a.m.
"Immediately I looked up to the top of the roof, which is the only place to look other than the walls," said correction officer Steve Mills.
Marshall had removed the light fixture in the ceiling of the cell and climbed up into the jail's attic. He then made his way to a large vent on the side of facility.
"And he had somehow pulled that down, away from the hole, broke a couple louvers out and then jumped down to the lower roof," Mills said.
Marshall made a run for it into Shelbyville. He was gone overnight, but deputies caught up with him on Sunday.
"Somebody let us know he was in a neighborhood and they found him walking the streets and they chased him," according to Mills.
The light fixture in that cell has been retro-fitted so it is nearly impossible for someone to take it down.
This is the first inmate to escape from the jail since Sheriff Randall Boyce took office six years ago.
email: ccannon@newschannel5.com
