BEDFORD – At approximately 5:21 p.m. Tuesday, a Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputy transported inmate Craig Powell from the jail to IU Health Hospital for treatment of a shoulder injury.
Powell, of Mitchell, was being held at the Lawrence County Jail on a charge of domestic battery on June 30th. Craig was accused of injuring another man during a domestic fight in the 310 block of Riverview Addition.
On Tuesday, Powell appeared in Lawrence County Superior Court I for his initial hearing and pleaded not guilty to the charge. His bond was also reduced.
“He attempted all day to raise his bond through phone calls but was unable to,” said Sheriff Mike Branham. “He then decided to jump from the height of about 5 steps in the cell block and landed on his shoulder. He was transported to IU Health Hospital for a medical evaluation.”
Craig was transported to the hospital at 5:21 p.m.
During his medical evaluation, he managed to escape custody and ran out of the hospital around 10:52 p.m.
“Someone didn’t follow the proper procedures we have in place to prevent incidents like this,” added Sheriff Branham. “We will be investigating this internally.”
Officers reacted quickly and set up a perimeter around the hospital and surrounding area.
At 11:32 p.m. an officer set up on Patrick Robbins Way and by using night vision was able to locate Powell. He was taken into custody after a very short pursuit.
Powell was taken back to IU Health for a medical evaluation and then transported back to jail.
He now faces an additional charge of escape.
“He probably would have been out of jail before the end of the year, now he is facing another possible five years,” said Sheriff Branham.
Powell will appear in court for a pretrial conference on the battery charge on October 6th at 1 p.m.
