Published: March 26, 2008 08:17 am      

Escapee found in refrigerator

A state inmate who escaped from work release in February was apprehended Monday — in his wife’s refrigerator.

Madison County Probation and Parole Officers Jarrod Elkins and Tim Horn were making a routine home visit at Cassandra Hill’s Four Mile residence when they became suspicious that something wasn’t right.

“It took her a little bit longer than usual to answer the door,” Elkins said. “We had received information that if it took her a little bit longer to answer, she usually was trying to hide (her husband, William Hill) somewhere. During a security sweep of the home, we located Mr. Hill in the refrigerator and he was arrested on the escape warrant.”

Hill, 32, was convicted in November of 10 counts of third-degree burglary and sentenced to five years in prison. He and his wife, Cassandra Hill, 20, both were charged initially with 20 counts of burglary when they broke into A1A Storage on Keeneland Drive. Cassandra Hill later was given five years of probation for her involvement in the burglaries.

During the investigation, Richmond Police located more than 140 items alleged to have been stolen, which had been stored in the house, backyard and two storage sheds on the couple’s property. Among the property were assorted baby items, PlayStation games, electric tools, an antique rifle and more. The couple allegedly had transported all the items to their home using a Toyota Camry.

On Feb. 19, William Hill was performing inmate work release at the Madison County bus garage when he escaped custody.

“He took a car that belonged to the county bus garage and drove away from his work site,” said Madison County Detention Center Capt. Tom Jones.

William Hill allegedly dumped the stolen car at Kenneth Hall Plumbing next to the Madison County Stockyards, Jones said, and has been avoiding capture ever since.

“He’s actually back on his original charges as an inmate, but he also has a commissioner’s warrant for escape second-degree,” Jones said.

William Hill now faces possible indictment as a persistent felony offender, and whatever sentence he receives upon conviction for the escape will run consecutively to the remainder of his five-year sentence, said Madison Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Moriah Greer.

Cassandra Hill also was arrested for violating her probation by providing false information to a parole officer and failure to cooperate with a parole officer, according to her arrest citation. Both are lodged again in the Madison County Detention Center and did not have bonds set as of Tuesday morning. Once they receive a bond, they still will have holders on them because of the escape and probation violation charges, a jail official said.

Jones said the hiding place had to be pre-planned because there was no food sitting out around the refrigerator or shelves within sight.

“When I got there, his feet were still in it,” Jones said. “I was there maybe two minutes after they arrested him and he was handcuffed on the floor with his feet still inside. I’ve been doing this almost 10 years and that’s a new one for me.”

Jones said the couple had taken all the shelves out but a top one and William Hill is a fairly small man. It wasn’t anything in particular that made Elkins and Horn check the fridge, Elkins said. It was just a routine part of the search.

“If we think somebody else is in the home and it is potentially unsafe, we look anywhere in spaces that are big enough for a person to hide,” Elkins said.

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.