Damian Vincent Reynolds
A Wartburg man who allegedly walked out of the Anderson County jail after standing in line with other inmates who were being released from the booking area has been arrested and charged with escape.
Damian V. Reynolds, 39, was brought to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton from Morgan County at about 6:33 p.m. Wednesday, July 11. He was standing in the booking area in his civilian clothes, and several other inmates were being booked out, according to an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Session Court, Division I, in Clinton.
Reynolds stood in line with those other inmates who were being released and proceeded to walk out the jail door without being released, the affidavit said.
He was taken back into custody Friday afternoon, according to WSYH Radio in Clinton.
WSYH Radio said officials at the jail called the escape, a Class E felony, “human error.”
At the time, Reynolds was being processed for intake after being arrested on a theft charge and two warrants. Chief Jailer Avery Johnson told WYSH earlier this week that intake and release procedures were not followed and that there was “no excuse” for the mistake.
Reynolds was booked into the jail Friday on the original charges, as well as the escape charge, WYSH said. He remained jailed Wednesday evening, July 18, and his bond has been set at $35,000.
The theft charge is a felony motor vehicle theft charge from Oak Ridge on June 9. In that case, Reynolds and an unidentified female allegedly stole a vehicle that had been left running with the door unlocked in front of the Weigel’s gas station and convenience store on Oak Ridge Turnpike in west Oak Ridge.
The victim of the motor vehicle theft, who had noticed Reynolds and the female walking toward his vehicle, immediately picked Reynolds out of a photo lineup, according to an affidavit filed in that case.
The victim told Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Gary Beaty that Reynolds and the female had come from behind Weigel’s. In the affidavit, Beaty said he found a Saturn sedan in the parking lot that was reported as stolen by the Kingston Police Department. The KPD identified Reynolds as their suspect, the affidavit said.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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