Escaped Tennessee inmates captured in north Georgia

WHITFIELD COUNTY, Ga. — Two escaped Tennessee inmates were captured in north Georgia Friday night.

The inmates led troopers in Tennessee on a chase in a stolen flatbed 18-wheeler, according to authorities.

Georgia State Patrol took over the chase when it crossed the state line on Interstate 75. It ended just south of Dalton where troopers used stop sticks to blow out the tires. All southbound lanes were shut down in Whitfield County as police investigated and cleared the roadway.

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Matthew Robert Porter, 27, and Adam Quinn Lethco, 24, escaped from a Jefferson County jail Friday morning along with two other inmates. The other two were captured shortly after, but Porter and Lethco remained on the run, according to ABC affiliate WATE.

Investigators told WATE a deputy was treating Lethco for a hand injury and when deputies left the cell, the four inmates attacked them, taking the keys to the deputies' vehicle. Police say there was a gun inside the vehicle.

Porter was in jail for reckless endangerment and evading arrest. Lethco is in jail for aggravated burglary, theft and vehicle theft, according to WATE.

The two are also suspects in an attempted armed robbery at a gas station Friday morning in Sieverville, Tennessee.

Cox Media Group