Additional security measures have been installed at the DeSoto County courthouse following an inmate’s escape.
Sheriff Thomas Tuggle confirmed that weaknesses exposed in the law enforcement department’s security protocols amid Joshua Zimmerman’s June 14 escape have been rectified. He did not specify what was implemented for safety reasons.
Zimmerman was captured by U.S. Marshals on Wednesday, August 21 after an hours-long standoff. The 30-year-old barricaded himself inside the Seafood Junction on the west side of Chicago on the night before his capture. Authorities with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office said Zimmerman was inside the restaurant alone, meaning no civilians were at risk.
DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton revealed shortly after Zimmerman’s June 14 escape that he believes the incident was partially a result of work from the inside after camera footage from the courthouse was mysteriously deleted. Tuggle has denied those claims. However, both local leaders are unable to speak further regarding Zimmerman’s escape since the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and Attorney General’s Office have taken over the case.
(Photo courtesy of the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office)
Zimmerman is said to have walked across the street from and asked a stranger en route to Memphis, Tenn. to give him a ride. The inmate, still in his pajamas and shower shoes, told the driver that he had just been in an altercation with his wife and needed to get out of town.
The criminal is back in police custody. He was originally locked up in north Mississippi for allegedly attacking an elderly man in Southaven. He is also accused of murdering a woman in Houston, Texas.
On Monday, former DeSoto County deputy jailer Ronnie Hunt was taken into custody in connection with Zimmerman absconding from law enforcement. Hunt faces escape of prisoners and conveying articles useful for the escape of prisoners charges.
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