BREAKING NEWS: Escaped jail inmate captured

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley has announced that the jail inmate who escaped on Wednesday has been captured.

According to Shirley, the arrest happened just after midnight Thursday, while units of the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office were surveilling the last known address of 24-year-old Calvin McCoy on Memorial Drive.

McCoy was believed to be in the vicinity of the residence. When deputies arrived they found a backpack in an outlying shed that possibly belonged to McCoy.

Deputies began sweeping the area.

Shirley says Deputy Eric McKinney and his K-9 along with the tracking K-9 unit from Lee Arrendale State Prison were called and began a track of the suspect, while Georgia State Patrol Aviation was contacted and responded to assist in the track of McCoy.

GSP Aviation and the K9 teams were able to track McCoy to the area of Hwy 17 Bypass at which point the track was lost.

Residents at the house were interviewed and surveillance was maintained throughout the remainder of the night by investigators from the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division.

Based upon the ongoing surveillance, deputies and investigators approached the residence again just after daylight and found that McCoy had returned, where it was determined that he was inside the home.

After the residence was searched, deputies checked the attic and found McCoy hiding under boxes where he was arrested after a brief struggle.

McCoy is currently being held in the Stephens County Jail and is charged with felony escape and felony obstruction of a deputy sheriff in addition to his initial charges of burglary.

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all the agencies that assisted in the apprehension of McCoy; Georgia State Patrol Post 7, Georgia State Patrol Aviation, The Toccoa Police Department, and Lee Arrendale State Prison Canine Apprehension Team.

Shirley adds that they would also like to thank the community for their patience and support during the tireless search for McCoy, as well as McDonald’s and Camp Mikell for their generosity in providing food and water during the past couple of days and night.