KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — An inmate who escaped from a Knox County detention facility is back in custody, according to the Knox County Sheriff's Office.
Phillip Donae, 29, of Knoxville escaped from the facility on Sunday, according to KCSO.
Reports from KCSO said that Officer Earl Jenkins was bringing a group of inmates inside from the recreation yard at 3:34 p.m. when an inmate mentioned to Jenkins that another inmate was missing.
The inmate told Jenkins that the escapee had "went over the fence." Jenkins asked the group who the escapee was and no one answered him. Jenkins then immediately told the inmates to get in their bunks so he could count them, KCSO said.
After Jenkins counted the bunks, he realized that the missing inmate was Donae. A camera in the facility shows Donae jumping over the fence at 3:12 p.m., according to KCSO.
Knoxville Police Department officers located Donae around 3:37 p.m. in a stolen vehicle on West Woodland Avenue at I-275. A short pursuit occurred before Donae drove the vehicle off the road to the edge of a tree line and abandoned the vehicle. Officers were able to capture and arrest Donae for escape and theft of property, KCSO said.
Doane was originally incarcerated for a violation of probation and aggravated domestic assault.
The investigation into his escape remains ongoing, according to KCSO.