Deputies recapture Georgia prisoner after parents jailed for helping him flee hospital

ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — A prisoner who ran away from a southwest Georgia hospital has been recaptured, and his mother and stepfather were charged with helping him get away.

Dougherty County sheriff’s deputies said they caught Carlton Bradford Gillis, 37, on Thursday. He’s accused of escaping from an Albany hospital after overpowering a guard on Saturday.

Gillis’ mother, 63-year-old Trudy Sellars, and his stepfather, 47-year-old Randy Williams, turned themselves into police on charges that they aided Gillis’ escape. All three are jailed with no bail set as of Thursday. None of the three have a lawyer listed in Dougherty County court records. Gillis didn’t immediately respond to an electronic message sent to a Facebook account.

Sellars told police she and Williams went to pick up Gillis after he called to say he had been released from the hospital, and didn’t know he was escaping custody. Sellars said Gillis kept her in the car against her will, refusing to stop and let her get out.

An Albany police officer said a bystander near the hospital told him Saturday that he saw a man get into a green car. The officer found a green car with the driver alternating between his left and right turn signals, and then pulling onto the shoulder of Albany’s freeway bypass as the officer came up behind the car. The officer said in a police report that Williams was the driver and Gillis was in the back seat.

The officer said when he commanded Gillis to raise his hands, Gillis instead climbed into the driver’s seat and kept Williams from turning off the engine. Gillis drove a short distance and Williams got out after the car stopped. Gillis then took off with police pursuing. They gave up the chase after Gillis exited the freeway and drove into oncoming traffic at speeds up to 80 mph (130 kph), according to police. Officers said they later found the car with Sellars still inside. She told officers Gillis had run into the woods.

Police added charges of kidnapping, forcible robbery, fleeing a police officer, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license against Gillis. He was already awaiting trial in Dougherty County on other charges including burglary, felony interference with government property and felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer. Gillis faces additional charges in neighboring Terrell County.