From WRIL -
On Sunday morning November 28, 2021, at approximately 10:00am, Bell County Dispatch received a call from Bell County Detention Center staff stating that an inmate, 22-year-old James Madden from Middlesboro, had run from work release at the facility kitchen. Dispatch the put out a description of Madden to area officers.
Pineville Police Chief Brandon Hollingsworth was parked on Highway 25E in the vicinity of the Pineville Hospital and saw Madden running toward the Wallsend Bridge. Approximately 12 minutes later the police chief located Madden and identified him as the inmate that had left the jail.
James Madden was taken back to the Bell County Detention Center and charged with escape - 2nd degree. He had been in the jail for theft under $500 and a bench warrant. He know faces an additional 5 year sentence for the escape charge.