An inmate who escaped from a work site in Walker County, Ga., about 11 a.m. Wednesday turned himself in roughly nine hours later.
David Hart escaped with the help of his wife, Jessica, from a Walker County school he was helping to renovate, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said. Jessica Hart, who also turned herself in Wednesday, is charged with felony aiding escape.
David Hart faces a charge of felony escape, Wilson said.
A woman authorities believe helped with the escape also was arrested Wednesday.
Walker sheriff’s deputies found Tamara Elster at her workplace in Hamilton County, Tenn., authorities said. She was charged with felony aiding escape and taken to the Hamilton County Jail.
David Hart, who is serving a 20-year sentence for a drug conviction, was renovating the Walker school system’s Science and Technology Center in Chickamauga on Wednesday when he asked for a water break a little before 11 a.m.
Elster apparently drove her silver Mercedes to the center with Jessica Hart. David Hart walked off the work site and jumped in the car, Wilson said. Witnesses turned over a description of the car and the tag number to police.
No students were in the building.
Wilson said investigators believe the Harts traveled north toward Chattanooga and dropped Elster off at work. The couple planned to pick Elster up after work, but police found her first, Wilson said.
When David Hart escaped, police alerted Cloud Springs Elementary, where his child attends school in Catoosa County, that he was on the loose, Wilson said.
Catoosa school officials said the only school that issued an alert in the county was Wood Station Elementary.
The principal at Wood Station decided to issue the “code yellow” alert, which means students weren’t allowed to go outside for recess, said Marrissa Brower, spokeswoman for Catoosa County Public Schools. The alert was issued, she said, because the school is located near Walker’s Science and Technology Center.
The alert was called off an hour later when authorities decided the area was safe, she said.
Police believe David Hart plotted his escape with his wife over a county jail phone earlier in the week.
“We’re reviewing that evidence to see all that was said,” Wilson said.
Bonds for the Harts were not set late Wednesday and bond information for Elster was unavailable.
Staff writer Michael Stone contributed to this report.