Two inmates accused of escaping Allen County Sheriff’s custody, with one taking off in sheriff’s car

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Bowling Green police began searching late Wednesday morning for a man who they said absconded from the custody of Allen County Sheriff Jeff Cooke.

Cooke came to the Warren County Regional Jail to pick up two inmates, Kevin Allen and Matthew Hicks.

At some point after Cooke took custody of the men, Allen jumped from Cooke’s truck, Bowling Green Police Department spokesman Officer Ronnie Ward said.

Cooke pulled over to chase Allen and at that point Hicks is accused of taking off in the Allen County Sheriff’s vehicle, Ward said.

That’s when Cooke sought help from a passerby, Laura Jones, of Bowling Green.

“My husband and I are coming out of the Fifth Street diner after having breakfast, and we a see a man in a uniform coming down the street with a weapon drawn,” Jones said. “I couldn’t tell if it was a gun or a taser.”

The sheriff got into Jones’ car and asked to borrow her phone.

“So I dialed 911 and handed him the phone, and he gave Bowling Green dispatch 911 the instructions about who he was, what had happened, and started instructing us to drive around the corner as he continued to look for the man that was on foot,” Jones said.

“I was kind of getting scared by the time I realized that they had his vehicle, and I didn’t know if they had his weapon, and I didn’t know if we were going into a dangerous situation,” said Jones.

Police caught up to Hicks near The Medical Center campus and took him back into custody, Ward said.

While clearing the sheriff’s vehicle, Bowling Green police found a loaded Colt AR 15 rifle in the rear floorboard of Cooke’s truck. The rifle belongs to Cooke, according to Hicks’ arrest citation.

Allen is accused of climbing into a Tru Green landscaping truck and driving off. Online state court records show Allen has a history of running from police.

Officers located the 2016 GMC Tru Green truck behind a house on Duchess Drive but as of 6:15 p.m. Wednesday had not caught up to Allen.

Cooke said both men will face new charges.

Hicks told police when Allen fled, he had  panic attack and decided to drive himself in the sheriff’s vehicle to The Medical Center. He said he blacked out and that’s why he didn’t stop for police who were pursuing him, according to his arrest citation.

Hicks was charged Wednesday afternoon with second-degree escape, first degree fleeing or evading police in a motor vehicle, theft by unlawful taking of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, theft by unlawful taking of an automobile, reckless driving, disregarding a stop sign and disregarding a traffic control device, according to his arrest citation.

Hicks is accused of driving Cooke’s marked Ford F-150 vehicle north on Kentucky Street. While police were responding, an officer saw the truck traveling south on E. Riverview Drive approaching the intersection of State Street. The officer noted in Hicks’ citation that Hicks ran a red light while the officer was behind him and disregarded stop signs. He stopped near the emergency room entrance to The Medical Center, according to his citation.

Hicks was lodged in the Warren County Regional Jail.