Covered in mud and grass, escaped inmate Eric Fling glanced at NewsChannel 3’s cameras as authorities placed him in a police car on Hampton Roads Center Parkway.
Maintenance worker Nancy Morales saw it all go down.
“All I heard was the cops say ‘He's right there! He's right there! Get on the floor!’ And he tried to jump over the gate but I guess they caught him in time."
Newport News city officials say fling escaped from the Newport News City Jail Farm around 6 am.
They say he climbed a barbed wire fence and took off.
Around noon authorities started searching the woods near Sandy Bottom Park.
Eric Fling, age 24
A Hampton Police officer says he saw Fling jump out of a car and run into the woods.
Hampton, Newport News and Virginia State Police combed the wooded area for roughly two hours.
Nearby Bethel High and George Phoenix schools were put on lockdown.
Just moments after authorities called off the search maintenance workers at the Meridian Parkside Apartments spotted Fling behind one of their apartments and chased him toward police.
In his attempt to flee the area, Fling attempted to carjack a woman. A Newport News Police Lieutenant who was in the area saw the attempted carjacking and was able to apprehend Fling..
Authorities tell NewsChannel 3 Fling was severely dehydrated when they found him.
They sent an ambulance to check his vitals before taking him to Riverside Hospital not far from where they captured him.
Fling was serving a 10-month sentence for a burglary probation violation.
Newport News officials say there was not a guard in the area of the farm where he escaped from.
Fling has been charged with attempted carjacking and remains in the custody of the Newport News City Jail. Mr. Fling was also served with the outstanding warrant for escape from custody.
