Sheriff: Man fled jail before bondsman could turn him in
Published 10:10 pm Friday, January 26, 2018
GULFPORT (AP) — Authorities say a man fled from a Gulf Coast jail before a bail bondsman could turn him in.
Harrison County Sheriff Troy Peterson identified 45-year-old Viet Van Nguyen as the man who fled from the county jail Thursday.
News outlets report Nguyen was brought to the jail by a bondsman to turn him in on a charge of failure to appear in court for a grand larceny charge.
Peterson says the bondsman asked another bondsman to watch him while he went outside to move a vehicle.
Officials say Nguyen ran through the employee parking lot, scaled a fence and ran into the woods.
He was found about 75 yards away. Peterson says he won’t be charged with escape because he wasn’t yet in custody of the jail.