Winston County Sheriff’s Department arrests escaped inmate after nearly 24-hour manhunt

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – After a manhunt of nearly 24-hours, the Winston County Sheriff’s Department arrested the inmate who escaped from a Philadelphia Police officer on Tuesday.  

The Winston County Sheriff’s Department and four other agencies worked through the night to find 20-year-old Demarquese Gibson Wednesday afternoon.

“There’s brambles, we have briars,” says Winston County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Kohrs. “It’s a lot of rough go out there, especially with the downed trees and the (leftover) tornado damage.”

That’s the kind of terrain law enforcement had to treck through in order to corner Gibson.

“Any time he had contact with an individual throughout this search, when the opportunity came to either fight or flee, he chose to flee.” Deputy Kohrs says.

They finally tracked Gibson down thanks to help from their eye in the sky.

“This drone, from the air, can cover about 2 square miles in about 20 to 30 minutes,” says Deputy Kohrs, who operates the sheriff’s department’s drone.

Investigators say someone spotted Gibson from the ground and Deputy Kohrs locked onto his location with the department’s drone.

This was after Gibson had been sighted multiple times overnight and throughout the day. At around 7 a.m. members of the Winston Academy football team spotted a man in the woods who matched Gibson’s description.

“With radio coordination with the ground search teams, I can actually talk somebody onto a heat signature that we identify,” Deputy Kohrs explained.

Which is how they apprehended Gibson off of Brooksville Road near Grace Christian School at around 2:30 p.m.

“What we’re basically looking for is movement and heat signature,” Deputy Kohrs says.

And with so many members of law enforcement working late into or straight through the night, they were glad to have the extra air support.

“I know the sheriff (Jason Pugh) was up all night long,” Deputy Kohrs says. “Our Chief Deputy has been up non-stop and a couple of our other deputies have been putting in the hours beating the brush.”

The Louisville Police Department, Chocktaw County Sheriff’s Department, Department of Fish and Wildlife and Mississippi Highway Patrol all assisted in the search.

Before escaping, Gibson was originally on his way to the Winston Choctaw Regional Correctional facility on charges of grand larceny.