UPDATE:
The Newton County Sheriff's Department has issued an updated statement indicating that Hurst was apprehended in Wake County, N.C. The department is working on finding out what went wrong: "An ongoing internal investigation is examining Hurst’s escape to determine who aided him and whether proper policies were followed during his transport back to the Newton County Detention Center from Piedmont Newton Hospital."
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
In the county where I’ve lived most of my life, a week-long nightmare is over, but the people partly responsible for that nightmare are still with us. It’s a cautionary tale about incompetence and the lack of transparency that complacent local officials try to hide behind.
In Newton County, Ga., Sheriff Ezell Brown is running for a fifth term in 2024. He swept into office in the same election as Barack Obama, making history as the first black sheriff in the county. Brown has stayed in office largely because of a contingent of Democrat voters on the west side of the county, but the fact that he seems to always be in campaign mode doesn’t hurt him.
In 2020, before Georgia reformed its voting laws to make veiled campaigning illegal, it wasn’t unusual to see Brown glad-handing people as they waited in line for early voting. Someone told me that a jury duty orientation video featuring Brown around that same time looked too much like a campaign ad. The sheriff’s department’s social media accounts feature him prominently.
But the past week has left Brown with egg on his face after a caper that made Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane look capable. On Saturday, May 4, a corrections officer was wheeling inmate Kendrick Hurst out of Piedmont Newton Hospital in a wheelchair when Hurst escaped. Reportedly, the corrections officer was the only person guarding Hurst, which made it easier for him to escape.
“Law enforcement officials have been close to capturing Hurst a few times, including Sunday evening between midnight and 1 a.m., when officers tried to track him down to a home along Georgia Highway 142 in Oxford,” reports Fox 5.
At one point, deputies were reportedly seven feet from Hurst, but they failed to catch him. There’s a video of deputies searching for Hurst with dogs. It’s hard to hear, but reportedly Hurst told deputies that if they would call off the dogs, he would come out of the woods. He didn’t.
The area where Hurst narrowly escaped capture multiple times is a quiet area of the county, where residents aren't used to helicopter searches or a heavy police presence. I know people who suffered multiple sleepless nights. Working from home not knowing how close an escaped prisoner was to my house made me hyper-vigilant. It was an uneasy few days, and it was scary for some local residents.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s department released a statement on social media:
In light of the recent encounter between our officers and Kendrick Hurst, we want to provide clarity on the situation. The officers encountered challenging conditions, including being separated from the offender by a fence and facing limited visibility due to dense underbrush and darkness. Despite these challenges, our officers acted responsibly and with regard for safety.
When the offender signaled a willingness to surrender, the decision not to release the dogs was made to prioritize his and the officers’ safety and wellbeing. It was deemed the most humane course of action to avoid any risk of causing serious, possibly fatal, harm to the offender.
We want to reassure the public that we do not believe negligence played a role in this incident. Our officers exercised sound judgment given the circumstances they faced. We remain dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and accountability in all our operations.
The department turned off comments on its posts regarding the efforts to capture Hurst, and eventually, the department issued updates by editing an older post while adding new posts above it that painted the department in a more positive light. Brown has been nowhere to be found, and he hasn’t made any statements. The sheriff’s department did offer an oh-so-generous $500 reward; thankfully, the U.S. Marshals Service kicked in another $3,000.
Meanwhile, memes have circulated throughout social media, especially in a private Facebook group called “Where’s Kendrick,” including memes based around Scooby-Doo, Where’s Waldo, and Smokey and the Bandit. Then came the rumors; the scuttlebutt went that Hurst had escaped into another county, while other rumors surfaced that Hurst was related to Brown or someone else high up in the department. The sheriff’s department never addressed the rumors or how the situation has turned the department into a laughingstock.
Finally, on Friday, someone captured Hurst. Someone. We don’t know who because the sheriff’s department is yet again avoiding transparency and accountability, and once again, the department has cut off comments.
Another Facebook post, which the department probably timed to appear above the capture post, featured Brown appearing with other law enforcement officials as Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) signed public safety and first responder bills into law. “Photo ops versus accountability,” read one comment.
Public officials should always take responsibility for their actions and remain accountable to their constituents. Those who avoid transparency and run from accountability don’t deserve to remain in office. This situation is more than just a public relations nightmare, and I hope that Newton County voters take notice.
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