Escapee captured in Millard area after busting out of transport vehicle

Monday morning in Poplarville, James Douglas Dennis, age 29, address of 317A Carey Byrd Road, Carriere, was sentenced to five years for assaulting a Pearl River County Sheriff’s (PRCSO) deputy from a previous charge.

As Dennis was being transported from the courthouse in Poplarville to the Lenior-Rowell Criminal Justice Center in Millard, PRCSO Chief Investigator Marc Ogden said Dennis kicked out the back window of the transport vehicle and started crawling out through the window opening. When the jailer stopped the vehicle to prevent Dennis from falling onto Highway 11, Dennis ran into the woods near Savannah Millard Road at approximately 1:30 p.m.

Law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies assisted the PRCSO is setting up a perimeter and began to search for Dennis. With help from the Pearl River County Sheriff’s K-9s, the Picayune Police Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol, and Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Dennis was apprehended in the woods at approximately 6:18 p.m. near South Spoon Ranch Road, approximately 2 miles from where he exited the transport vehicle.

The Harrison County Sheriff’s Department also deployed a helicopter as part of the search.

Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the many agencies who assisted in this search and the capture of Dennis.

Dennis will now face an additional charge of escaping custody. He was transported to the Lenior-Rowell Criminal Justice Center early Tuesday evening and incarcerated.