Muhlenberg County Kentucky
News: D
Jackie Dukes, 1976
Jailer injured in break
Greenville, Ky. - The next time Muhlenberg County Jailer Jackie Dukes hears a prisoner complain that he needs medical attention, he's probably going to be just the least bit skeptical.
That was the ruse used by two prisoners early Wednesday morning in an escape that left Duykes with a couple of lumps on his head and a few bruises.
Dukes said he was hit over the head with a piece of pipe during the 4:30 a.m. flight of Freddy Chumley, about 25, and Vollie Joe Penrod, 22. Chumley was recaptured about 7:30 a.m. by Greenville police. Penrod is still at large.
Chumley “had a piece of conduit he tore loose back there somewhere. They didn't knock me out or anything. They was going to lock me up on that bottom floor, the drunk tank,” Dukes said.
According to Dukes, he was helping Chumley carry Penrod up a flight of stairs, when Chumley jumped him. Penrod had just returned from a trip to Muhlenberg Community Hospital after complaining of stomach pains, Dukes said.
The prisoner had been escorted by a Kentucky State trooper, who had left the jail, Dukes said, when Chumley called out that Penrod was unable to walk up the stairs to their cell area.
After Chumley, jailed on an armed robbery charge, hit him with the pipe, Dukes said Penrod recovered very quickly.
The two raced out of the building, Dukes said, while he ran into his bedroom to get a gun. The jailer said he fired twice at the men as they fled down the street, missing both times.
Dukes said he's happy that the pair decided on immediate flight rather than trying to subdue him completely. “I figured if they chased me, they'd get me before I got the gun,” he said.
During his more than two years as jailer, Dukes said he hasn't had many problems with his prisoners. “This is the first trouble I've ever had like that,” he said.
The escape also surprised Dukes in another way. Penrod, jailed on a breaking-and-entering charge, had a number of chances to escape during his month of imprisonment, Dukes said.
Those chances came chiefly during Penrod's many trips to the hospital, Dukes said. Once Penrod was given permission to speak to a church group about drug addiction, he added.
Penrod's escape also surprised Dukes's wife Lois. “I took Joe out to the hospital by myself yesterday,” she said. “I just couldn't hardly believe Joe would try to escape.&rdquo.
In the future Dukes probably won't fall for the same routine but he noted that he is responsible for his prisoners' welfare. “If they're really sick, what're you going to do?” he said.
The escape has made Dukes look forward more eagerly to the opening of the new county jail early next year. The structure will replace the dilapidated, 60-year-old facility.
Coincidentally, fiscal couirt Thursday voted to make its sixth payment on the new jail. The payment left the court owing about $80,000 on the approximately $275,000 project.
- Source: Messenger-Inquirer [Owensboro, KY], 29 Oct 1976.
Updated April 6, 2024.