Man tries to break into the county jail

An Atmore man who had warrants out for his arrest is back behind bars after alledgely trying to break into the Escambia County Detention Center property to deliver contraband to prisoners being housed in the county jail.

David Lavorn Johnson, 26, 1250 Freemanville Drive, was arrested Feb. 6 and charged with promoting prison contraband I and II, conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime, possession of burglary tools, unlawful possession of marijuana I, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, criminal trespassing II, criminal mischief I and assault II.

Escambia County Sheriff Heath Jackson said Johnson had outstanding warrants on failure to appear charges from the county's drug court at the time of his arrest.

Sheriff Jackson said about 10 p.m. Feb. 6, Johnson used a set of bolt cutters to cut through an exterior fence at the back of the jail. Johnson had a bag full of contraband with the intent to have an inmate open a window and send a rope down to hoist the contraband into the detention center.

Sheriff Jackson said Johnson was caught inside the fenced area and when confronted by a correctional officer he was charged with assault for alledgely biting the officer on the arm.

The bag confiscated from Johnson included cell phones and chargers; marijuana; synthetic marijuana and tobacco.

Court records show that Johnson was in drug court but had not reported in eight months prior to his latest arrest.