DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — Two juvenile inmates of the troubled Mountain View Youth Development Center in Dandridge escaped Thursday evening by knocking open a fire exit door and scaling a fence, according to the Dandridge Police Department.
The inmates, 18-year-old Seth G. Pitts and a 16-year-old, were housed in Charlie unit, where the most serious offenders are held.
10News has done a series of reports about the violence and unrest at Mountain View over the last few months, and a new company recently took over management of the state-owned facility.
The facility administrator told police that he saw the two teens climbing the perimeter fence but was unable to stop them from escaping, according to DPD.
Officers were sent to Mountain View just before 6 p.m. to begin the search. DPD and the Jefferson Co. Sheriff's Office set up a perimeter in the wooded area around the facility.
A JCSO K-9 unit was able to track the teens to where one of them had taken off a shirt and left it on the ground. However, the teens escaped the perimeter by running into a creek and then going through a culvert under Valley Home Road and across the golf course toward Wine Road.
They stole a truck once they got to the road which was reported at 7:48 p.m. according to JCSO, but crashed it after traveling only a short distance and took off again on foot.
The report said the truck was traveling at a high rate of speed and hit a tree off the right side of the road.
One of the juveniles actually knocked on a door at a home on Florence Circle off of Burchfield Road and asked to use the phone, according to Tim Coggins whose wife called 911.
"It was kind of scary he didn’t look like a menacing type of person I think he was probably as scared as we were at first. I was shocked," he said.
Officers rushed It was kind of scary he didn’t look like a menacing type of person I think he was probably as scared as we were at first. I was shocked to the home, but the escapees had already fled.
However, officers were able to catch up with them not far from the home and took both of them into custody without incident.
"They were exhausted and they did cover a lot of ground very quickly," Sheriff Jeff Coffey said.
Pitts was taken to the Jefferson County Justice Center and charged with escape. Because he admitted that he was the one driving the truck, he was charged with theft of property over $10,000 and leaving the scene of an accident. The report noted that he was also driving without a license. He is scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on March 12.
The 16-year-old remains in DCS custody and has also been charged with escape. He has a court date set for Jefferson County Juvenile court for April 2020.
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Other charges are pending.
Despite all the reports of violence and riots at Mountain View, no one had escaped in more than three years.
During the search, the Knox Co. Sheriff's Office had a helicopter up for aerial support. The Cocke Co. Sheriff's Office sent a drone and officers to assist, along with THP and the White Pine Police Dept.
Original story
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said they have two juvenile inmates back in custody who escaped from Mountain View Youth Development Center in Dandridge Thursday.
According to Sheriff Jeff Coffey, Jefferson and Knox County deputies along with Dandridge police had searched the area for the juveniles. Knox County's Air Watch unit had helicopters in the air.
According to Coffey, the two stole a vehicle and crashed it a few miles northeast of Dandridge on Wine Road near Niles Road before running off.
The two were brought back into custody around 8:50 p.m. Thursday without incident or injury, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The two were found in separate locations by THP and Jefferson County deputies and are being transported back to the correctional facility.
The Department of Children's Services said the Deputy Commissioner of Juvenile Justice is on the way to Dandridge and is communicating with law enforcement. DCS records show it has been at least 3.5 years since someone escaped from Mountain View.
WBIR reached out to Wayne Halfway House Inc., who took over operations in February after reports of repeated violence and calls for police assistance at the troubled facility. Operator Jason Crews said in a statement: "I want to commend local law enforcement agencies for a rapid, effective response to safely resolve the situation."
"As the new administrator of Mountain View, we are working in close coordination with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services to evaluate facility conditions and make improvements to prevent this from occurring again,” the statement said.