Media

Deputies Capture Man Who Escaped From Shelby County Jail

Release Date: October 13, 2004

Deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Division and Metro Gang Unit caught up with Greg Riley last night. Riley, 37, who was in jail awaiting trial for a First Degree Murder charge, escaped from the Shelby County Jail this past Sunday evening.

Yesterday, Fugitive Deputies received a tip that Riley might be in the Midtown area. Just after eleven o’clock last evening, Riley was seen in a dark blue vehicle at the Mapco convenience store on Lamar at Willett.

Deputies then followed the car. As it approached the intersection of Willett at Felix Street, Officers with the Fugitive Division and Metro Gang Unit, blocked the vehicle Riley was in with their cruisers and took him into custody.

Riley was not armed. However, Deputies say Riley had cuts on his body, including his right arm, which were apparently caused by razor wire when he made his escape from the jail.

Jailers discovered Riley missing about nine o’clock Sunday evening. He never returned to his cell after being at the jail’s outdoor gym on the Fifth Floor earlier in the evening. It was discovered he had gotten to the roof of the Criminal Justice Center by scaling a security fence topped with barbed wire. He then lowered himself down the side of the building with bed sheets.

Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell says a thorough investigation is continuing about how Riley was able to escape from the jail.

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