Woman charged with housing jail escapee
A 31-year-old woman has been charged with harboring a Chattanooga man who escaped Sunday from Hamilton County Jail custody and has since been recaptured.
Authorities found 29-year-old Anthony Labron Bell in Lashonda Denise Kirkwood’s apartment in the 700 block of Germantown Road on Monday, a day after Bell escaped from Erlanger hospital, where he had been taken after a medical event on Friday, according to court records. The affidavit, filed Monday, says Kirkwood admitted the apartment was hers and could not deny knowledge that Bell was a fugitive.
“Due to the media attention, and the fact that Bell had his handcuffs on, a reasonable person would not be able to deny knowledge that Bell is a wanted fugitive,” the affidavit states.
While on the run, Bell was added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Top 10 Most Wanted list.
He is back in custody and scheduled to appear July 15 before Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge Christie Sell.
Kirkwood, who is charged with accessory after the fact, appears to have made bail on her $20,000 bond. The county jail does not show her in custody and does not have the capacity to hold women for extended periods of time, and Silverdale Detention Center said she is not in the system there. She is also scheduled to appear July 15 before Sell.
Affidavits also give more detail on Bell’s escape and the 35 hours before he was found.
A report states he was handcuffed at the time of his escape and was being guarded by a sheriff’s office corrections officer. Bell vanished at about 6:30 a.m. Sunday when he ran down a stairwell, out one of Erlanger’s main entrances and onto Blackford Street.
Later that morning, a detective found Bell’s hospital gown and ID inside Professional Industrial Tire on Riverside Drive, a report states. Two vending machines had been broken into, and about $50 was taken out of one. Bell stole clothing from the locker room of the business, as well. The detective recovered video that showed Bell in the business.
Bell was taken into custody just before 6 p.m. Monday at Kirkwood’s apartment. He was wearing a grey undershirt and black sweatpants. His handcuffs were still on his wrists, though the connecting chain had been cut.
Bell, who is being held at the Hamilton County Jail, faces felony escape charges, two counts of vandalism, two counts of theft of property and one count of burglary. That’s on top of the slew of charges he was already facing, including six counts of aggravated robbery, aggravated child abuse or neglect, bribery of a public servant and a statutory rape charge from Lowndes County, Georgia.
Some of the Hamilton County charges stem from a May 2 incident in which two people robbed a Papa John’s at gunpoint.
Bell is being held on a $250,000 bond, according to online jail records.