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.
Saraland officials said the arrest came together quickly once investigators began looking into Kearns’ whereabouts, aided by his attempt to avoid detection by providing false identifying information to officers. That attempt to mislead police ultimately added charges to the case once his true identity and outstanding warrants were confirmed.
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. Work-release programs allow eligible inmates nearing the end of their sentences to hold outside jobs during the day while returning to a correctional facility at night, a system that depends on inmates honoring the terms of their release. Escapes from those programs, while relatively uncommon, prompt coordinated searches involving both local police departments and state corrections officials, as was the case with Kearns’ brief time at large.