Search Continues for Jail Escapee Who Assumed Identity of Another Inmate

HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio (Brad Underwood) — The search for an escaped inmate continued Wednesday night. Deputies said 20-year-old Chris Bowden assumed the identity of another inmate and walked out of the Hamilton County Justice Center. The sheriff’s office said two inmates pulled the identity switch Tuesday afternoon and Bowden walked out pretending to be Darius Dabney.

Bowden was even wearing Dabney’s clothes. Bowden was already in jail for aggravated robbery and was supposed to be in court on a gun charge. But on Tuesday, when Dabney’s bond was posted, it was actually Bowden who walked out the front door, a free man.

Major Charmaine McGuffey of the Hamilton County sheriff’s office said, “At least five individuals, including supervisors, touched that paperwork, scrutinized the documents, scrutinized the individual that’s being released. We have procedures in place that help us identify each and every inmate. We release hundreds of people from the jail; this is a very unique occurrence.”

Just last week, Bowden had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated robbery but hadn’t been transferred because of the scheduled court appearance for the gun charge. Now he’s facing a felony charge of escape. Dabney was only facing a marijuana charge, now he’s charged with complicity to escape which is a felony.

At this point, it’s unclear whether Dabney helped Bowden. Back in 2012, Dabney misled a police officer by giving police his brother’s name. The Hamilton County sheriff’s office said it is reviewing its policies and procedures after the escape.

Deputies say Bowden is dangerous, if you see him call 911.

Originally published on WKRC.