Florence, Ala. | Saturday, May 18, 2013
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Second escapee in custody after arrest at Fla. church, official says
By Tom Smith
Top row from left: Damien Lee Nix, Robert Lee Brown, Wesley Lee Gibson. Second row from left: Ricky Dewayne Lawson and Earnest Earl Lawson.

A second man who escaped from the Lauderdale County Detention Center on Saturday night has been caught, officials said.

Two of the four escapees remain at large.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Ronnie Willis said he was informed this morning that Wesley Lee Gibson, 27, Florence was arrested in Santa Rosa County, Fla., this morning.

Reports indicate Santa Rosa officials called the sheriff’s office around 7:30 this morning to notify them of the arrest.

“From what we understand, they caught him trying to break into a church,” Willis said. “But there was no sign of the other two.”

Gibson, Damien Lee Nix, 23, of Russellville, Ricky Dewayne Lawson, 28, Lexington, and Robert Lee Brown, 20, Sheffield, are accused of climbing through an air-conditioning duct to the roof of the jail and escaping through the fence late Saturday night, officials said.

Willis said Nix was arrested just after 10 p.m. Sunday at a residence on East Limestone Street in Florence.

The sheriff said the search continues for Lawson and Brown.

Anyone knowing anything about their location is asked to call 256-760-5757 or Shoals Area Crime Stoppers at 256-3860-8685.

Officials said Lawson’s father, Earnest Earl Lawson, was arrested Sunday and charged with first-degree escape because he picked up his son, Brown and Gibson.

“It is our understanding his son called him from the detention center and told him that he was bonding out,” Willis said.

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