Paris, Tenn.–The Henry County Sheriff’s Office has provided a timeline of events that led to the capture of the convicts who escaped from the Northwest Tennessee Correctional Facility in Tiptonville.
Robert Lee Brown and Christopher Osteen escaped from the facility Friday and made their way to Henry County where they now are facing charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary and theft over $10,000.
The two were captured in Pompano Beach, Florida on Sunday.
Henry County Sheriff Josh Frey said today the pair will first be extradited from Florida to the jurisdiction of the Tennessee Department of Correction, which will be responsible for transporting them back to Tennessee. “They eventually will face their charges here,” Frey said, “but we can’t say when at this point.”
Here is the timeline provided by the sheriff’s office:
“On Friday 12/11/20, the Henry County Sheriff’ s Office received a report at 1:55pm of an individual at roadway and a wrecked vehicle at Highway 218 and Iron Banks Rd. When officers arrived, it was determined that the individualwas a victim of a kidnapping and vehicle theft that occurred earlier in Fulton Co, KY. The victim had been assaulted and blindfolded by escapees Robert Brown and Christopher Osteen.
During the course of the interview with victim, officers bel ie ved there was possibility of another victim somewhere and also believed that the two escapees had separated in two different vehicles. Due to the victim being blindfolded, it was not clear where the incident had occurred. While processing the scene, THP had observed a red pickup traveling at a high rate of speed in Weakley County and believed it was the two escaped inmates. The red pickup eluded officers. A concentrated effort shifted to Weakley County to where a unified multi agency command post was set up.
On 12/ 11/ 20 and early morning hours of 12/12, patrol and investigative eff ort s were conducted in Henry Co and Weakley Co. Info rm ation was obtained that the escapees had spent a period of time earlier in day on Friday at the location of 3960 Reynoldsbu r g Rd in Henry County, TN. Once the info rmation was obtained, officers responded immediately to the Reynoldsburg Rd location. Officers initially could not make contact with anyone and did enter the home. Officers did find the homeowner tied to a chair inside residence. The victim did not require medical attention. It was determined that the homeowner had been tied to the chair and his 2009 red Chevy pickup was t aken by the escapees at approximately 1:00pm on Friday .
On 12/12/20, through ongoing investigation, off icers developed information of the 2009 red Chevy truck being in the Florida area. Officers did coordinate with Florida law enforcement. On 12/13/20, Florida law enforcement and US Marshals did observe vehicle in Pompano Beach area. After init ial contact was made with the stolen truck, officers conducted survei llance to which Robert Brown was apprehended and Christopher Osteen did flee on foot. After an extensive search by Broward Sher i ff’ s Office and US Marshals, Christopher Osteen was apprehended.
The investigation was a collabor ative multi-agency investigation consisting of Henry County Sheriff’s Office, Paris Police Dept, Weakley Co Sheriff’ s Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Dept of Corrections, Kentucky State Police, US M arshals, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Tennessee Wildli fe Resource Agency.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all the agencies involved and the Sheriff’s Office is pleased that it concluded peacefully. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office would also like to thank the citizens of Henry County for their patience and continued support.”