Wilson was taken into custody after deputies found him in the back bedroom of the home, Sgt. Ed Tanner told the Journal-News. He was apprehended without incident.
A confidential informant “kept his ears open and came to us” with a tip about Wilson’s whereabouts, Tanner said. He declined to release the identity of the informant, but said that person will likely receive the $1,000 reward offered by the sheriff’s office.
Wilson will be charged with escape and is being booked back into the Butler County Jail, according to Tanner.
How Wilson got to Middletown is part of an ongoing investigation, he said.
UPDATE @ 5:50 p.m.:
Cesco James Earl Wilson has been caught, officials with the Butler County Sheriff’s Office told the Journal-News.
More information will be available soon.
EARLIER REPORT:
More than 24 hours after escaping from outside the kitchen area of the Butler County Jail, sheriff’s deputies are continuing to search for Cesco James Earl Wilson.
Wilson, an inmate assigned to work in the jail’s kitchen, was unloading skids of supplies along with three other inmates about 3 p.m. Tuesday when he took off. Since then, the search has been non-stop, but as of Wednesday afternoon, Wilson was still on the lam, according to sheriff’s office officials.
No changes in procedure are planned at the jail, which is located on Hanover Street in Hamilton, in light of Wilson’s walk away, Deputy Chief Anthony Dwyer told the Journal-News.
A food service employee was with Wilson when he went missing, according to Dwyer.
The food service employees working in the jail’s kitchen are trained to supervise prisoners who are given special privileges or responsibilities in return for good behavior, and in this case Wilson escaped when the employee’s eyes were not directly on him, Dwyer told the Journal-News.
These special prisoners are afforded freedom in a number of jobs throughout the jail and the county, saving taxpayers thousands for jobs that they would have to pay someone to do, including grass mowing, cleaning, commissary duties and preparing inmate meals, Dwyer said.
“Inmate labor saves us time and money,” Dwyer told the Journal-News, but added there is an element of exposure that can mean an occasional walk away. “But when you look at the 15,000 to 20,000 of inmates we move in and out annually, (the walk-away rate) is very low.”
A corrections officer at the jail received a one-day suspension after inmate Bradley Brooks escaped while being treated at Fort Hamilton Hospital in July.
Brooks was on the run for about seven hours before his capture near Millville Avenue in Hamilton. He feigned the need to use the restroom and slipped out a partially open door at the hospital wearing his hospital gown.
Dwyer said Brooks was tethered to a IV when he went into the restroom, removed the IV and ran out of the hospital room. An investigation found the corrections officer was located too far away from the hospital room’s bathroom door when Brooks escaped.
“We have to fight complacency all the time. That is when something happens and that is when officers get hurt,” Dwyer said.
On Wednesday afternoon, the sheriff’s office announced a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Wilson. The notice warns residents to not approach Wilson, who had facial hair at the time of his escape, but now may be clean shaven.
Wilson, 37, is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes and is from Middletown. He was convicted in October of receiving stolen property and was back in the jail on a probation violation. Wilson formerly owned a used tire business in Middletown on Verity Parkway, according to Middletown officials.
Anyone who sees Wilson or has information about his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or 513-785-1300.
Tips about Wilson’s location can also be submitted online at www.butlersheriff.org/tips
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