UPDATE – TN.GOV – The two inmates who escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex/Minimum Security Annex have been arrested in Pompano Beach, Florida and are now in police custody. Robert Lee Brown and Christopher Osteen were taken into custody by the Broward County Florida Sheriff?s Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and other local and federal law enforcement agencies three days after leaving the facility in Tiptonville. Brown, 36, was serving an 18-year sentence for Aggravated Rape out of Putnam County. His sentence was set to expire in 2022. Christopher Osteen, 34, was serving an 8-year sentence for Burglary out of Madison County. His sentence was set to expire in 2023. Brown and Osteen are suspected of kidnapping a Fulton County Kentucky Highway Department employee and stealing his truck. Both men are also being investigated by Henry County authorities for allegedly kidnapping a man early Saturday morning and stealing his pickup truck. The inmates will be returned to TDOC custody and housed at an appropriate facility.
ORIGINAL STORY – AP -Authorities say they are searching for two Tennessee inmates who escaped prison, kidnapped a Kentucky highway department employee and stole a resident?s truck. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Robert Brown and Christopher Osteen escaped Friday morning from Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County, Tennessee. The inmates are considered armed and dangerous. Authorities say an employee of the highway department in Fulton County, Kentucky, was kidnapped by the inmates from a boat ramp. The employee and his truck were later found in Henry County. Early Saturday, deputies found a Henry County resident who had been tied up in his home by the inmates, who stole his truck.