Police searching for escaped inmate with “violent tendencies”

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ohio. (WSAZ) - Law enforcement is searching for an escaped inmate from the STAR Community Justice Center in Franklin Furnace, Ohio.

Ohio State Highway Patrol said Eric Parkins, 42, escaped from the STAR Community Justice Center around 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Susan Randolph said she got an alert on her phone that two inmates escaped.

“It was kind of alarming,” she said. “It was starting to get dark and I was just concerned for my little town.”

The other inmate, Tim Moore, was apprehended by the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office.

Parkins has a tattoo behind his right ear, between the thumb and index finger on his left hand, and a ‘6″ and “8″ on his left ankle.

“If you see this person, don’t approach him,” Jake Schuldt with Ohio Highway Patrol said. “Don’t get involved with it. Contact your local 911, your local police agency, and let us take care of him and bring him back into our care and custody.”

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers said Parkins was in jail for drug charges.

It’s unclear how the inmate escaped.

The incident remains under investigation by the OSHP.

If you see the suspect or have information on their whereabouts, contact the OSHP Portsmouth Post at 740-354-2888 or call 911.

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