By Don Jacobs
Knoxville News-Sentinel
MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Morristown authorities on Thursday morning arrested a second escapee from the Hancock County Jail after the fleeing man turned a stolen pickup truck onto a deadend street during a police chase.
Buster Lee Carpenter, 22, was arrested at 8:49 a.m. when Morristown officers found him hiding in woods near Taft Street in the northern part of the city, according to Morristown Police Department Maj. Michelle Jones.
Carpenter was seen Thursday morning by a Bean Station police officer driving a stolen gold F-350 Ford pickup truck. When the officer tried to stop the truck, the driver refused to pull over and continued driving into Morristown, Jones said.
The Bean Station officer chased the truck until it turned onto Taft Street, which is a dead-end street. When Carpenter realized his mistake, he jumped from the stopped truck and fled on foot.
Jones said officers converged on the area and had Carpenter in custody without incident in a matter of minutes.
Morristown police are processing the stolen truck, which was not damaged in the chase and arrest, and will be transporting Carpenter back to Hancock County, the major said.
Carpenter, 31-year old Stephen A. Crowder, 25-year-old Christopher A. Seal and 22-year-old Travis E. Livesay were all discovered missing from their Hancock County Jail cells Wednesday morning. Livesay, who was being held on burglary charges, was the first of the group nabbed. He was found in a home near the Hawkins County line.
Carpenter was convicted of aggravated burglary, Crowder was sentenced to eight years for aggravated robbery and Seal was convicted of theft and violation of probation.
Anyone with information on the inmates is asked to call 911 or the Hancock County Jail at 423-733-2250.
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