A convicted felon who used a cell phone and maybe a drone to escape a maximum-security prison in Dorchester County Tuesday night was apprehended Friday morning in Texas, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
The agency posted the news to its Twitter account shortly after 5 a.m., stating Jimmy Causey, 46, had been located two hours earlier by Texas Department of Public Safety.
While Department of Corrections first issued a "wanted" flyer for Causey around 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday, officials said he actually fled Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville the previous night, using wire cutters to exit through a fence. Dorchester County Sheriff's Office assisted the search locally.
Causey was located inside a motel near Austin, Texas, according to SLED Chief Mark Keel, who addressed media outlets during a press conference Friday in Columbia. Keel said Causey was armed with a pump shotgun, a second firearm, about $47,000 in cash and more than one cell phone. He also praised all agencies involved for the ongoing, successful search.
"This was just good old-fashioned law enforcement," Keel said.
Causey has been serving a life sentence for kidnapping his attorney and attorney's family in 2002, authorities have said.
To escape his dorm, Causey fashioned a dummy and put it in his bed as a "ruse" for prison guards, according to SCDC Director Bryan Stirling, who also spoke during the presser. He said investigators are still determining what materials Causey used and believe he didn't act alone.
Authorities said a cell phone and possibly a drone were also used in the escape and that two officers, one per wing, were stationed inside Causey's dorm at the time.
It's the second instance Causey has used a dummy to escape prison. According to the Post and Courier, he and fellow inmate Johnny Brewer "used toilet-paper heads made by other prisoners" to escape Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia in 2005. Again, they placed the fake heads in their beds, making officers think they were sleeping. The pair then hid in a dumpster, which a garbage truck drove off the property.
Stirling said drones and cell phones are increasingly being used in prison escapes nationwide and explained how he'd once predicted such events would occur as technology advanced.
"We're seeing this a lot."
Stirling said the issue is a direct result of inmates' continued connection to the outside world, through Internet and social media, despite their physical separation from society.
He also urged the federal government to get involved and establish laws to prevent future similar prison breaks.
"It's a simple fix; allow us to block the signal," Stirling said.
Gov. Henry McMaster supported Stirling's thoughts.
"The best way to end this threat is to jam, block and disrupt the cell phone signal. Unfortunately, the FCC-so far-will not allow this. Be assured: We are working diligently to persuade them otherwise," he said in a statement issued shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday.
McMaster explained how as soon as cell phones are confiscated, "new ones are smuggled in." He said they are thrown over prison fences or brought in via drones, increasing threats "to our correctional officers and to all of us."
Stirling echoed McMaster's concern for potential public injuries, and possibly fatalities, should inmates continue to escape.
"There are going to be some very serious consequences, and some people are going to get hurt because of drones and cell phones," he said.
To combat the new trend, Stirling said the Department of Corrections is planning to install high golf netting around all its facilities for a cost of $7.65 million. Agency spokesperson Sommer Sharpe said statewide that includes 11 institutions, each currently surrounded by fencing for security measures.
"We intend to do whatever it takes to keep all of South Carolinians safe," McMaster said.
Authorities did not reveal Causey's current location but said he will be transported to a high security prison.