FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2005

INMATE ESCAPES FROM JACKSON IMAGING CLINIC, APPREHENDED BY JACKSON POLICE WITHIN ONE HOUR

Jackson, Tenn. - Officers with the Jackson Police Department have captured an inmate who escaped from the West Tennessee Imaging Clinic located at 300 Coastline Drive in Jackson, Tennessee at approximately 
9:50 a.m. this morning.

Mark Ellis, 34, was transported from Hardeman County Correctional Facility in Whiteville to the imaging clinic Friday morning for a CT scan.

The Governor's Prison Escape Plan was activated at 10:25 a.m. as several sightings of the inmate were being reported to law enforcement officials.  Ellis reportedly hitched a ride from the clinic to a local apartment complex, where he entered an unlocked apartment telling the resident that he needed a place to hide.  The Jackson citizen immediately notified police that the man was hiding under a bed.

Tennessee Department of Correction Acting Commissioner Gayle Ray expressed her thanks to the numerous law enforcement agencies, i.e. Tennessee Highway Patrol, Jackson Police Department and the Madison County Sheriff's Department that worked together to bring the inmate back into custody so quickly.

Ellis is serving a 15 year sentence out of Shelby County for aggravated robbery.  He will be transferred back into the custody of Hardeman County Correctional Facility, then immediately transferred to another state prison by the end of the day.  Ellis also faces felony escape charges.

 
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