Captured Rockdale inmate Timothy Shane prompts internal investigation, deputy placed on leave

ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA—Inmate Timothy Shane, who was on the run since Monday, is behind bars again after escaping from Grady Hospital in downtown Atlanta while under custody of the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office. 

Shane was captured early Wednesday, Dec. 3, in Newton County after eluding authorities by stealing two vehicles, taking an Uber and another share-ride, and going to a Dunkin’ Donuts during a wild escapade. Rockdale investigators worked the case with multiple authorities including the Atlanta Police Department, Covington Police Department, Newton County Sheriff’s Office, Henry County Sheriff’s Office, and the Georgia State Patrol, which provided a helicopter during the search for Shane.  

 Authorities were able to close in on Shane after he went knocking on doors in a residential area in Newton County. K-9 units tracked Shane and confirmed through surveillance cameras that he was in fact in the area. Authorities arrested Shane in an abandoned residence in the 9000 block of Morris Drive in Covington. He was barefoot and wearing a red hoodie and pants. Shane was arrested and taken to the Rockdale County Jail.

At a noon press conference on Wednesday, Sheriff Eric Levett said that an internal investigation is underway and a deputy involved in overseeing Shane at the hospital has been placed on administrative leave. He did not release the name of the deputy. Levett said there initially were two deputies at the hospital and later only one deputy. 

Sheriff Levett declined to say how the inmate managed to escape from the hospital or say whether the inmate was wearing restraints. The sheriff did say that in a number of instances when inmates undergo medical procedures such as CT scans, restraints must be removed for those procedures. 

“We are currently awaiting surveillance from the hospital to see exactly what could have—if anything—went wrong as to how he escaped and why he escaped, what the employee(deputy) was doing, what policies could have been broken or not broken …” Levett told reporters at the press conference.

Rockdale deputies and EMS officials had transported Shane to Grady Hospital, located in downtown Atlanta, on Sunday around 8:30 p.m. after an attempted suicide at the Rockdale County Jail. Shane escaped from the hospital around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, wearing a hospital gown and no socks or shoes, Levett said.

Shane fled to the area near Piedmont Avenue and Auburn Avenue, located near Grady Hospital, where he stole a vehicle that was parked and running. He crashed that vehicle into another vehicle, got out and ran toward the Mercedes Benz Stadium.  Authorities said no one was injured in the crash. However, the driver of the Pontiac reported that a gun left inside the vehicle was taken. 

Shane then stole a second vehicle—a silver Pontiac Grand Prix—in the vicinity of the stadium. He drove the Pontiac to Henry County, where it was located at the Publix parking lot n Highway 155. Shane abandoned the Pontiac at Publix, where the vehicle was recovered, Levett said. While in the parking lot, Shane had a conversation with an individual but had no connection with the person, Levett said authorities determined. Surveillance cameras showed that Shane was picked up by an Uber driver in a black SUV at Publix. Authorities who were tracking Shane learned that he was dropped off at a location in Rockdale and authorities dispatched investigators to watch a house where they believed Shane may have been hiding. However, after obtaining a search warrant, Shane was not found among the occupants at the house, Levett said, adding that Shane had been at the house earlier. Shane then got a second share-ride and went to a Dunkin Donuts before he ultimately was arrested in Newton County with the help of the Georgia State Patrol’s helicopter.

As the media pressed for answers on how the ordeal happened at the press conference, Sheriff Levett said he couldn’t answer certain questions due to the internal and criminal investigations but vowed to get to the bottom of how inmate Shane escaped and amend any protocols concerning the supervision of inmates taken to medical facilities.  

“The same concerns that the community have are the same concerns that I and the members of this office have,” Levett told reporters.