Jeffrey Alderton
The Cumberland Times-News Tue Jan 25, 2011, 03:22 PM EST
OAKLAND — While there have apparently been no sightings of Garrett County Jail escapee Deandre Kelly since his escape Sunday night, some information is being provided to law enforcement by the public, the Western Troop state police commander has said.
Shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday, Kelly, a black man who is said to be 6 feet tall and weighing up to 250 pounds, allegedly assaulted two jail officers and displayed what was possibly a handgun at that time. He allegedly forced the officers to release a door that allowed him to exit the lockup at 311 E. Alder St. according to the sheriff’s office.
What happened after Kelly made good his escape is apparently unknown, or is not being disclosed in the face of region-wide efforts by state, federal and local police to find the man who police said should be considered armed and dangerous.
Direction and means of travel at the time of the escape as the outside temperature hovered in the single digits has not been made known — if investigators have determined those circumstances. Clothing that Kelly was wearing when he entered the bone-chilling outdoors has not been made known.
“This is a very multiagency, multijurisdictional effort to locate this fugitive. We are working diligently to locate him,” said Sheriff Rob Corley. He said a reward of $6,000 being offered in the case is the result of the joint investigation that includes federal, state and local law enforcement in various jurisdictions.
Maj. Mike Bittinger of the sheriff’s office said the escape is being investigated by the sheriff’s office and that no administrative action has been taken against the assaulted officers, who apparently were not injured.
The sheriff’s office provided the first news about the escape in a faxed news release to the Times-News at 4:18 a.m. Monday, less than eight hours after the escape occurred. A photo of Kelly was provided to the Times-News about five hours later and a $6,000 reward in the case was announced later in the day in the increasing efforts to take Kelly off the street.
Following the escape, the sheriff’s office reported Kelly is believed to be out of the area. However, checks of locations in Cumberland by Cumberland Police on Monday were made at the request of the sheriff’s office.
Kelly’s first encounter with Garrett County law enforcement over the weekend occurred at about 5 p.m. Saturday following a single-vehicle accident at Friendsville.
After crashing his vehicle, Kelly drove away from troopers but was arrested a short time later following a seven-mile pursuit. His vehicle was impounded and a loaded handgun was seized at the time of the arrest
Kelly was treated at Garrett Memorial Hospital for minor injuries stemming from the crash. Upon his release from the hospital, he was taken to the McHenry barrack for arrest processing by state police on numerous drug, weapon, assault and traffic charges.
At about 1 p.m. Sunday, Kelly was escorted by troopers to the Garrett County Jail, where he was held on $100,000 bond before he escaped about eight hours later.
Among the resources involved in the investigation are the Maryland State Police Fugitive Unit including the Western Maryland Unit, the Baltimore Unit and the Prince George’s County Unit; the MSP Special Apprehension Unit; the MSP Tech Surveillance Unit; the MSP Intelligence Division; Cumberland and McHenry barracks; the C3I Unit and the C3I Narcotics Unit; MSP K-9 Unit on standby; as well as the Frederick County and Garrett County narcotics units.
Capt. James Pyles, Maryland State Police Western Troop commander, said Tuesday afternoon that some information is being received from the public.
“We want to thank the citizens of Garrett and Allegany counties for providing information. Hopefully this will lead to a successful arrest,” said Pyles.
Anyone with information on Kelly’s whereabouts is asked to call the Garrett County Sheriff’s Office at 301-334-1911 or C3I at 301-777-0326.
Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com
