Ohio Fugitives Captured in Pennsylvania

BELLEVUE, Pa. --

Four inmates who escaped the Columbiana County Jail in Lisbon, Ohio, were caught in Bellevue Monday afternoon.

Before their capture, Columbiana County Sheriff David Smith said that the four male inmates were last seen about 10 miles from the jail sometime around 1:30 a.m. Monday.

Smith, who was not notified of the escape until 6 a.m., believed the inmates had outside help in their escape.

The inmates who escaped are Mark Foden and William Merritt, of East Liverpool, Ohio, Jason Heffner, of Salineville, Ohio, and John Hamilton, of Salem, Ohio.

"I wished we wouldn't have gotten caught," Foden told Channel 11 News shortly after his arrest. "I was looking at 15 years, and I wanted to see my daughter graduate."

The four escaped by crawling through duct work they accessed in a storage closet, police said. Through the ducts, they were able to reach the roof of the jail where they jumped to their escape.

Bellevue Patrolman Michael Hudson spotted their stolen getaway car along Crawford Avenue in Bellevue.

"Fortunately for us, not fortunately for them, they went down a dead end street," Hudson said.

Police said one suspect fled into some nearby woods but was captured a short time later.

"They actually acted like they didn't know what was going on until 15 to 20 minutes later when identified as the escapees," said Hudson.

Officers also arrested Melissa McCuley, 26, the girlfriend of one of the inmates. She was charged with complicity for aiding in the escape.

The inmates will spend time in the Allegheny County Jail until they can be extradited back to Ohio on Tuesday.

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