Dustin Adams
Dylon LafolletteAverage daily inmate population
The average daily population at the Hamilton County Jail routinely exceeds the facility’s maximum rated capacity of 505 inmates.› 2015: 565› 2014: 552› 2013: 505› 2012: 518› 2011: 516› 2010: 608Source: Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office
In the dead of night, two inmates in the Hamilton County Jail broke a window in their second-floor cell, unscrewed a security screen and escaped into downtown Chattanooga, running down Walnut Street in their underwear.
One escapee, 19-year-old Dylon Lafollette, was recaptured hours later Monday, about a mile away in the 100 block of North Market Street. But the other, 25-year-old Dustin Adams, is still on the loose.
The escape highlights long-standing problems with the jail, an aging facility that is chronically understaffed and overcrowded. The jail is supposed to house a maximum 505 inmates – but at the time of the escape Monday, there were 642 inmates inside, Chief of Corrections Joe Fowler said.
And that’s routine. For five of the last six years, the jail’s average daily population has exceeded the maximum rated capacity of 505, records show.