6 Escaped Convicts From Alabama Arrested in Tennessee

DICKSON, Tenn. —  Six escaped convicts from Alabama were captured in Tennessee on Thursday, two days after they broke out of a maximum-security prison by using a broom handle to lift an electrified fence.

Authorities stumbled onto the group along a country road about 50 miles west of Nashville and 165 miles from the prison. They scattered and were caught without violence over an eight-hour span.

“We just partied, drank and got high--just had a good time,” convicted burglar James McClain, 35, said after his arrest.

He said the group was headed to Memphis and then planned to drive to Canada. They had stopped near the unincorporated community of Bucksnort, west of Dickson, to eat, wash and rest.

The six stopped at a gas station Wednesday evening not far from where they were found. Three went inside and bought six bologna sandwiches, beer, toothpaste, toothbrushes and shampoo, authorities said.

After midnight, two sheriff’s deputies looking for someone who had stolen a street sign saw a car parked near a creek the convicts apparently were using to wash themselves. Deputy Darrell Groves said the inmates “scattered like a bunch of deer” into the woods.

Captured were McClain; Gary Scott, 31; Billy Gamble, 24; Steve Murphy, 45; O.C. Borden, 33; and Jack Allred, 43.