Escaped prisoner back in custody

Originally posted 7-19-19

Montesano, WA – The man who escaped from the Grays Harbor County Jail in a garbage can is back in custody.

According to the jail’s booking website, James Lee Bartholomew was booked in at 12:35 a.m. this morning.

The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office previously told KXRO that Bartholomew escaped on June 26th by hiding in a large garbage can that was taken to the outside garbage by another trustee who conspired to help him escape.

The inmate who had assisted Bartholomew leave the jail was booked on escape charges for helping him.

Grays Harbor County  Undersheriff Brad Johansson tells KXRO that police in Tumwater located the man on Thursday when they investigated a suspicious woman in a Motel 6 parking lot.

According to Johansson, the woman walked away as Tumwater PD approached the vehicle, but they saw what they believed to be a person hiding under blankets inside the car. When they had the person exit the vehicle, they discovered it was Bartholomew.

He was arrested on an escape warrant and a search warrant led to heroin and methamphetamine found in the area he was hiding. 

Bartholomew was booked on multiple charges.