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Sheriff tackles sex offender after his escape A sex offender who was arrested on a parole violation escaped from the Clarke County Jail Dec. 13 and was recaptured by the sheriff and a forest ranger nearby on Highway 43. The suspect, Bobby Ray Bell Jr., 29, of Thomasville, is a convicted sex offender who was also on probation, said Ron Baggette, chief inspector with the Sheriff's Department. Bell arrived at the Clarke County Courthouse to meet with his probation officer. The officer wasn't in so he came to the jail to meet with Sgt. Maurice Dyess. Sex offenders annually have to register their whereabouts with authorities, Baggette said. While working on the registration, Dyess realized that there was a warrant for Bell's arrest on a probation violation. Dyess placed the suspect under arrest. He had not been handcuffed. "While escorting him from the office to take him into the jail, in the lobby, Bell broke and ran through the glass doors," Baggette said. "Sgt. Dyess gave chase. He (Bell) ran all the way around to the back of the jail and went into the pretty thick woods there." Sgt. Dyess went to the car that Bell had come to the jail in, and stopped a female driver from leaving. Sheriff Bobby Moore came straight from the courthouse to try to catch the suspect on Highway 43, the investigator said. Forester Benji Elmore was traveling north on Highway 43 just as the suspect made it to the highway. "He (Elmore) stopped and gave chase across the highway." Sheriff Moore's car arrived at the same time and bumped Elmore. Sheriff Moore got out of the car and tackled the suspect and apprehended him. Elmore was not injured except for a scrape on his arm. "Benji was about to tackle him (Bell)," Baggette said, "and he got knocked down (by the sheriff's car), and the sheriff wound up tackling him." Sheriff Moore thought he had broken his thumb in the incident, but after visiting Grove Hill Memorial Hospital, the thumb was "just stoved up," Baggette said.
Bell was charged with escape, first degree.
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