2 Tennessee inmates have been captured after they broke out through a jail ceiling, authorities say

By Amy Simonson and Jamiel Lynch, CNN

(CNN) — Two escaped inmates in northwestern Tennessee have been captured after they broke out of jail through a skylight, law enforcement said.

One of the inmates, Ronnie Sharp, was taken into custody after “a brief foot chase” in Union City Tennessee, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

The other inmate, Joshua Harris, was captured Monday evening with the help of a citizen tip, authorities said.

Sharp, 48, and Harris, 40, were able to flee the Henry County Jail by going through their cell ceiling and then prying open the skylight on the facility’s roof, the sheriff’s office initially announced Monday morning, without indicating when the breakout happened.

The pair left the jail in “an unknown direction” and are believed to be responsible for the theft of a white 2006 Chevy truck along Highway 69, the sheriff’s office said.

Before they were found, the sheriff’s office cautioned Monday that both men should be considered dangerous and urged the public not to approach them.

Sharp, who was taken back into custody by local law enforcement and US marshals, was initially jailed on several pending charges including kidnapping, aggravated assault, assault on an officer, evading arrest, theft of property and burglary, the sheriff’s office said.

He will be transported back to the Henry County Jail in the next few days, authorities said.

Harris is “serving time for violation of (his) sentence but does have a history of evading arrest, theft of property and burglary,” the sheriff’s office said.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.