Georgia sheriff offers clarification on reward money after escapees apprehended

Sheriff Howard Sills of Putnam County, Georgia, has issued a release about the reward money available to the those that assisted in the capture of escaped inmates Ricky Dubose and Donnie Rowe.

Rowe and Dubose were apprehended Thursday in Rutherford County after a police pursuit through the county earlier that day.

A homeowner in the area, Patrick Hale, stood over the two suspects in his driveway until police arrived. It was first reported that he held them at gunpoint while he waited for authorities, but Hale said the suspects surrendered before he showed his weapon.

Sheriff Sills says he was not aware of Hale’s involvement until very late in the evening on Thursday, after a news conference where he indicated none of the $130,000 of reward money would be handed out because the suspects surrendered to law enforcement.

On Friday, Sheriff Sills corrected himself to several different media outlets saying payments would be made accordingly.

“We are presently looking into the facts about who or whom may be entitled to the reward and will make an announcement when those matters are decided,” Sills said in a release. “I am confident from what I know at this time that there will be payments made.”

Courtesy of WKRN News 2