Greene County jail inmate on lam
WAYNESBURG – A Dilliner woman is accused of helping her brother escape from Greene County jail Sunday night as state police continued their search for the inmate.
Police said Vanessa Hanlan spoke to her brother, Waylon Hodge Hanlan Jr., 27, on a prison phone system earlier as the two discussed how he would escape from the jail.
Waylon Hanlan, who was in jail on a probation violation for simple assault and fleeing police, broke a hole in a holding area shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday and was observed by jail staff as climbing a fence, court records indicate. He then went into a wooded area where police said he met with Vanessa Hanlan, who had allegedly promised to drive him away from the jail.
Vanessa Hanlan told police she became scared while she, her brother Clinton Hanlan, and another woman waited for Waylon Hanlan at a parking lot near the jail.
She told investigators she instead left and went to her home at 859 Bald Hill Road in Dunkard Township, but Waylon Hanlan arrived there soon after riding an all-terrain vehicle. Police did not say where he got the ATV or if he received any other assistance to get to the home.
When Waylon Hanlan arrived, she gave him car keys and new clothes so he could change out of his prison attire.
“Once he got out, we do believe he had family members and friends helping him,” state trooper Matt Jardine said.
Police said he then left with his brother, Clinton, and they are believed to be traveling in a black, 2004 Honda Civic coupe with Pennsylvania license plate JTT-6241. Clinton Hanlan has not been charged in connection with the escape as of Monday night, and police did not say if they considered him a suspect.
Meanwhile, Jardine said they are “following up various leads in the area” as they continue to search for Waylon Hanlan. He is described as a 6-foot 3-inch white man weighing 145 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Police filed felony charges of escape and criminal conspiracy against him late Sunday.
Vanessa Hanlan, 23, was arrested early Monday morning and charged with two counts of hindering apprehension and one charge of conspiracy to commit escape. She was arraigned by District Judge Glenn Bates and taken to Greene County jail on $25,000 bond.
Greene County jail Warden Harry Gillispie said he could not comment on the incident because it remains under investigation. Gillispie said the jail was placed on lockdown until 7 a.m. Monday.
It’s the second prison escape at the jail in the past three years. Two men, including one awaiting trial for homicide, escaped from the jail June 23, 2013, and were loose for two hours before police located them nearby.