Escapee Captured On Prison Grounds
CANON CITY, Colo. (CBS4) - An inmate wanted for escaping custody from a correctional center near Canon City was found on prison grounds Wednesday afternoon.
Jerry Chase was located on the East Canon Prison Complex, a 6,000 acre complex near Canon City.
He was taken into custody without incident.
The search was issued for Chase, 65, when he wasn't at the 5 a.m. head count early Wednesday.
"We got contacted this morning probably just a little after 7 o'clock that Jerry Chase had escaped from DOC," said Grand County Sheriff Rodney Johnson.
Chase is serving 12 years for for stalking and harassment out of Grand County. He was convicted of sending threatening and racist emails in 2008 to several people including a few judges in Grand County.
One email read, "You better put me away for life or there will be hell to pay."
He was set to be eligible for parole in October.
Johnson said the victims in the case and the judges were notified of Chase's escape as a safety precaution.
"They didn't really have any information that he was coming here but they didn't have information that he had plans of going anywhere. So the decision was to just make some notifications and see if we could be proactive about it," said Johnson.
Chase previously served 14 years for arson in Massachusetts.
