A prisoner who escaped from a southwest Georgia hospital has been recaptured and his mother and stepfather have been charged with helping him escape.
Dougherty County sheriff's deputies said they captured Carlton Bradford Gillis, 37, on Thursday. He is accused of escaping from an Albany hospital after overpowering a guard on Saturday.
Gillis' mother, Trudy Sellars, 63, and his stepfather, Randy Williams, 47, turned themselves in to police accused of helping Gillis escape. All three have been jailed without bail since Thursday. None of the three have an attorney listed in Dougherty County court records. Gillis did not immediately respond to an email sent to a Facebook account.
Sellars told police that 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 pull away from her and let her get out.
An Albany police officer said a passerby 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 left and right turn signals, and then stopped on the shoulder of the Albany Highway bypass as the officer approached 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 that when he ordered Gillis to put his hands up, Gillis got into the driver's seat and prevented Williams from turning off the engine. Gillis drove a short distance and Williams got out after the car stopped. Gillis then drove off with police in pursuit. They gave up the chase after Gillis left 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 that Gillis had run into the woods.
Police added charges of kidnapping, forced 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 robbery, felony interference with government property and felony obstruction of a peace officer. Gillis faces additional charges in neighboring Terrell County.
