Tuscaloosa Woman Finds Jail Escapee Hiding Under Her Couch
An inmate who escaped from the Tuscaloosa County Jail Friday was recaptured by police after a woman discovered him hiding under her couch, recently filed court documents reveal.
The inmate, 23-year-old Quinn Martel Don Rogers, sparked an all-hands manhunt Friday when he escaped the Tuscaloosa County Jail.
Court documents filed this week say Rogers was allowed to work as an inmate and was unloading a kitchen supply truck when he ran out of a door and managed to escape the jail on foot a few minutes before 6 a.m.
Before long, sheriff's deputies noticed his absence and sirens rang out across the city as police began aggressively searching for Rogers in the areas between the jail and the Black Warrior River to the north -- a large zone that included all of downtown Tuscaloosa.
Rogers allegedly broke into an apartment nearby -- investigators have redacted the exact address to protect the privacy of the victims there.
Inside, Rogers stole some clothes and changed into them, abandoning his jail uniform in a spare bedroom. He also reportedly stole a key to a vehicle, but one of the residents inside became aware of the home invasion, got to a firearm and chased Rogers out of the apartment.
As police from every law enforcement agency in the area continued to hunt for Rogers, he allegedly broke into a second residence, where investigators say he stole a cell phone before he was discovered.
In a bizarre turn of events, Rogers' escape was reportedly foiled when a woman who lives at the apartment returned while he was still inside and sat on furniture under which he had hidden.
"There was a 911 call made from [the victim] who advised someone was in her house under a couch," investigators said in court documents. "[The victim] stated that she came home and sat on the couch and advised she felt something move under the couch. She said that is when she looked and found an individual laying under the couch."
The woman alerted her roommate, who watched Rogers while she called the police.
TCSO deputies and TPD officers rushed to the scene, where they identified the home invader as Rogers, the missing inmate. He was taken back into custody and returned to the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where he is now charged with second-degree escape and two counts of second-degree burglary. in addition to the burglary and theft charges for which he was originally arrested in October.