Escapee quickly captured

An Atmore woman had about an hour and 45 minutes worth of freedom Monday night after escaping from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office's female minimum security barracks before she was captured without incident.

Meagan Brooke Dantzler, 26, 1905 Cowpen Creek Road, now faces a felony escape I charge on top of her original charges. Dantzler was being held in the detention center on charges of burglary III and theft of property III when she left the barracks. Court records note she was being held on $70,000 on the two charges and also being held without bond on a violation of probation charge.

Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said a correctional officer went into the barracks about 7 p.m. to do a cell check and once she made entry inside the cage area, Dantzler ran past her and out the door.

A foot chase began as Dantzler ran across the street toward O'Bannon Park.

Lambert noted the escape occurred at shift change so there were multiple officers involved in attempting to locate Dantzler. He said Brewton police were called and a perimeter was set up. Tracking dogs from Fountain Prison and Camp 5 began following the trail. During the search officers saw Dantzler crawling on the ground near the dog park and she was taken into custody.

Lambert said she was returned to the detention center and placed into maximum security.

"It was a group effort from our officers, Brewton police and the prisons," Lambert said.