Jail escapee still at large

BUTLER – Lamarion Demetrius Alston remains at large on Monday morning after jumping over the fence at the Choctaw County Jail on Sunday night.

Authorities from several counties searched the area until about 3 a.m. Monday, after the suspect escaped from the jail at about 7:30 p.m. on June 9, running barefoot toward Riderwood Drive. Assisting the Choctaw County Sheriff’s Department in the search were authorities from Greene, Marengo, and Washington counties, along with officers from the Butler, Pennington, and Meridian Police Departments, Alabama State Troopers, and Alabama Game and Fish. Tracking dogs were also brought to Butler by the Department of Corrections in Atmore to aid in the search.

Choctaw County Sheriff Scott Lolley said that Alston had been taken out of his cell in leg shackles to use the pay phone in the downstairs area of the jail. He was taken back to his cell following the call, where the jailor removed his shackles. Immediately after the shackles were removed, Alston bolted from the cell, ran from the building and climbed over the front fence.

Alston, 27, who is reportedly from East St. Louis, Illinois, is described as a black male, about 5’6” in height, weighing about 150 pounds, with tattoos on his face and neck. Lolley said that the suspect likely suffered cuts from the sharp wires at the top of the fence.

Alston was incarcerated in the Choctaw County Jail on armed robbery charges in Marengo County. The suspect is accused of robbing a dollar store in Demopolis on April 18. He also faces charges in other areas.

According to Lolley, the suspect faces multiple charges in Georgia including warrants for armed robbery, assault with intent to rob, hijacking of a vehicle, kidnapping, and firearms charges. Other charges have included robbery in Tuscaloosa, along with burglary charges in Illinois. Records from Mecklenburg County, NC show that Alston was arrested in July of 2017 on charges including larceny, resisting public officer, breaking and entering, and communicating threats.

The Demopolis Times reported that, at the time of his arrest in Demopolis, Alston had attempted to elude officers in a high-speed vehicle chase and had finally fled on foot, hiding in a garbage can, before being brought in to face the robbery charges. He had been incarcerated in the Marengo County Detention Center without bond.

Lolley told the Sun-Advocate that Alston had recently been moved to the Choctaw County facility. He added that it is not uncommon for inmates to be moved, for various reasons, to other facilities in the area.

The Sun-Advocate has contacted Marengo County Sheriff Richard Bates for more information on Alston’s arrest and incarceration, but has not yet received a reply. — DC