Inmate who escaped from Brown Co. Jail a 2nd time found hiding in Portsmouth basement
WCPO
and last updated 2021-02-09 20:01:30-05
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio â Hobert Roark, who authorities said escaped from Brown County Jail for the second time last December, was arrested Tuesday in Portsmouth.
Roark, 40, was found hiding in his girlfriend s basement along the 1500 block of Fourth Street, according to the Brown County Sheriff s Office. He and his girlfriend, 39-year-old Desiree Phillips, were arrested without incident Tuesday afternoon by US Marshals, Portsmouth Police and several other agencies.
Roark previously escaped from the jail in November 2020 by breaking a window and fleeing through an impound lot. He was captured a day later at a Goodwill store in Portsmouth. On Dec. 29, he again fled from the jail by breaking a window leading out to an impound lot.
Escaped inmate back behind bars in Brown Co. By Brian Planalp and Kody Fisher | February 9, 2021 at 7:37 PM EST - Updated February 9 at 10:28 PM
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (FOX19) - A Brown County inmate who escaped from the jail in late December has been recaptured, according to Brown County Sheriff Gordon Ellis.
Hobert Roark, 40, escaped on Dec. 29 by exploiting “a weakness in one of the security windows,” the sheriff said at the time.
An investigation spanning five weeks and involving ten law enforcement agencies ensued.
It came to an end Tuesday around 2:30 p.m., when Roark was arrested by US Marshals and the Portsmouth Police Department in the 1500 block of Fourth Street in Portsmouth.