Search Underway In Northport For Escaped Inmate

NORTHPORT, AL — The Alabama Department of Corrections and law enforcement agencies in Tuscaloosa County are actively working to locate a jail escapee who left a work assignment in Haleyville on Wednesday.

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The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office confirmed that deputies and other agencies are actively searching for Joseph Ray Perkins in the area of Twin Oaks Road East, which runs between Watermelon Road and Union Chapel Road.

ADOC says Perkins was serving a 20-year prison sentence for theft at the Hamilton Community Based Facility and Community Work Center when he walked off a work detail at approximately 1:50 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Perkins was last seen on video footage at approximately 1:45 a.m. at Masonite in Haleyville and was wearing black sweatpants, a blue short-sleeve T-shirt with a black stripe on back, and brown boots

The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office is also asking the public in the area of Twin Oaks Road in Northport to make sure their vehicles are locked and not left running and unattended.

What's more, police ask members of the community to be vigilant and report anything regarding this missing inmate.

Those with information are asked to call (334) 215-STOP (7867) or 1-833-AL1-STOP (833-251-7867) or 911

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