Deputy nabs inmate who left work detail

MOULTRIE -- A Colquitt County Correctional Institution inmate and a Fitzgerald woman were apprehended by a Colquitt County sheriff's deputy Wednesday afternoon after the inmate walked off a work site.

Justin Lee Tatum, 24, a Fitzgerald man currently serving in the correctional institution, was charged with attempting to escape. Priscila Keaton Valencia, 36, of 149 Kathleen Drive in Fitzgerald, was charged with aiding or permitting an inmate to escape from custody.

The deputy's report said he saw a car pull into a closed driveway on Zion Grove Church Road near Bay Rockyford Road at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday. As the deputy got out of his vehicle, he saw Tatum get out of the car wearing his institution-issued pants hanging low.

Tatum was not wearing a shirt when he got out of the car, and reports said he was sweating. Valencia attempted to back the car out of the driveway as Tatum walked down the road.

The deputy turned on his blue lights and stopped the vehicle and told Tatum to stand beside the car, reports said. He asked Tatum who was driving the car they were in, and he replied Valencia was his wife.

Reports said the deputy got Valencia's driver's license, and he requested Billy Howell, the warden at the correctional institution, to come to the scene. He placed Valencia under arrest, and a correctional officer told the deputy Tatum walked off of a job site about 150 yards from where he was found with Valencia.

Both Valencia and Tatum were taken to Colquitt County Jail and booked in, reports said.