WORK-RELEASE INMATE ESCAPES, GETS COLD FEET

Jerry E. Bridges Jr. just couldn't wait to get away from Cape Girardeau police Wednesday.

But after less than an hour of wearing nothing except a wet, jail uniform in the cold, he couldn't wait to get back to police.

Bridges, 17, of Thebes, Ill., had been arrested Tuesday afternoon for contempt of court, police Cpl. Kevin Orr said. The contempt charge stemmed from unpaid fines related to an original charge of stealing.

After spending the night in jail, Bridges was sent off Wednesday to participate in a work-release program that allows city inmates to go to businesses such as the city's recycling center or the Humane Society shelter to pay off portions of their fines through work, Orr said.

Bridges had been at the Cape Girardeau Recycling Center on Broadview Street until 9:41 a.m., when he decided to run off, police said.

Several calls were made to police by residents who said they saw a man in an orange, jail suit, Orr said.

"One citizen had reported seeing a man climbing up out of the creekbed wearing orange pants and holding an orange shirt in his hand," he said.

Bridges apparently had gone down into the concrete retaining area along La Croix Creek to attempt to avoid suspicion, Orr said. At some point, police said, Bridges got wet.

At 10:13 a.m., Bridges called police from a phone at the Rhodes 101 convenience store at 2109 William St. He wanted to turn himself in.

"Apparently he was wet and cold," Orr said.

Bridges did not wait at the convenience store but kept walking. Police spotted him near Bloomfield Road and Koch Street a short distance away.

As police were preparing to take Bridges back into custody, his 16-year-old girl friend interrupted. Police had no information about how the girl found Bridges on Bloomfield Road.

The girl made several verbal threats against an officer and cursed him, Orr said. She was taken into custody for interfering with an arrest and cited into juvenile court.

Ironically, police said Bridges' relatives had appeared at the city clerk's office to pay his $271 in fines about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"He was about 10 minutes away from being free," Orr said. "But now he faces charges for escaping from custody."

Escapes by work- release prisoners occur infrequently, Orr said.

In 1996, an 18-year-old man had escaped from the Recycling Center with a 21-year-old prisoner. Although they had changed clothes, both were caught within two hours, police said.

A year later a 17-year-old boy was discovered hiding among weeds submerged up to his neck in a creek at Arena Park. He also had run off from the recycling center.

Escaping from custody is a class D felony punishable by up to five years in jail.