Second Inmate Captured

Well, make it two for two. Last Friday afternoon, two inmates escaped
from the Cocke County jail while they were out on the litter crew.
Earlier this week, Christopher Lee Webb was taken into custody on Hwy
25E in Hamblen County just north of I-81 exit 8. Today, the sheriff’s
office announced that the second of those escaped inmates is back in
custody as well. According to investigators with the Cocke County
Sheriff’s office, Eric Ballard was located in Mobile, Alabama. He tried to
flee from law enforcement on foot but a K-9 officer and his K-9 partner
quickly apprehended him. Sheriff CJ Ball says the US Marshals, Jefferson
County Sheriff’s Office, Newport Police Department and the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation all assisted in a consolidated effort to recapture
Eric Ballard. Both Ballard and Webb had been trustees in the jail and
were given special permissions due to good behavior. They took
advantage of that on September 2nd when on the litter crew on
Industrial Road, they asked for permission to go into the woods to
relieve themselves. Both men then escaped, but a week later both have
been recaptured.