A Pearl River County man serving time under the Louisiana Department of Corrections left his work detail and was later found at a creek in Pearl River County.
Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department personnel were alerted to the fact that Charles D. Johnson, 44, of 29 Wheatfield Rd., Poplarville, left the work site he was assigned to in Concordia Parish, La., on July 6, according to a press release from the local Sheriff’s Department.
A subsequent check of several residences where Johnson could have been in the county were unsuccessful, but information from the Picayune Police Department was instrumental in helping the investigators determine his potential whereabouts, said Maj. Joe Quave.
Johnson was later found under a bridge over the creek on John Amacker Rd., along with a woman identified as 41-year-old Dona M. Spears, also of 29 Wheatfield Rd., Poplarville. Johnson and Spears were both arrested on holds with the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Department.
Two other suspects were initially wanted for questioning in relation to the escape, who later turned themselves in to the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Department this week, said Maj. John Cowan of that department.
Cowan said that statements from the two other suspects showed that Johnson allegedly got into their vehicle during his flight from the work site and made threats against their life. No charges were filed against those two, but Spears was arrested for assisting in Johnson’s escape.
According to the release from the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department, Johnson was serving time for a conviction of two counts of possession of a controlled substance. He was serving 15 months with the Louisiana Department of Corrections and had a parole date of January 2021.