Escaped Work-Release Inmate Captured in Saraland After Fleeing Officers
Saraland police arrested an escaped work-release inmate who had been on the run since late October after he gave officers false information.
An inmate who escaped from a work-release assignment in Mobile late last month is back in custody after Saraland police tracked him down and arrested him following a brief investigation, according to Saraland officials.
Officers located and arrested John William Kearns III, 26, of Florala, at approximately 11 a.m. on Nov. 5. Kearns was booked on charges of attempting to elude an officer, obstruction of justice and possession of drug paraphernalia after investigators said he gave police false information and attempted to flee on foot when confronted.
A records check turned up two active warrants for Kearns, one from the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and another from the Alabama Department of Corrections, both stemming from a first-degree escape charge. According to Mobile County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Joe Mahoney, Kearns had been assigned to a work-release program in Mobile before walking away from his post on Oct. 30. Court records from the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles listed his minimum release date, tied to a Covington County jail sentence, as June 2, 2015.
Following his arrest, Kearns was booked into Mobile County Metro Jail, where he remains held on the combined charges from Saraland and the outstanding escape warrants.
About work release and escape charges
Alabama’s work-release program lets eligible state inmates nearing the end of their sentences hold jobs in the community while living at a corrections work center. Leaving a work-release assignment without permission can be prosecuted as escape; escape in the first degree is a Class B felony under Alabama law.
