The search for an Effingham County Jail escapee has ended in Jacksonville, Fla.
Deputies with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested Jackie Aelen Thorne Jr. on burglary charges, and an Effingham County Sheriff’s investigator is on his way to Florida to interview Thorne.
Thorne escaped from Effingham Jail on Oct. 18, just days before his trial on a series of charges stemming from a carjacking incident last December.
Thorne gave deputies a false name but they discovered who he was after fingerprinting him as he was being booked into jail. His fingerprints popped up on the FBI search list, and JSO deputies called Effingham authorities.
“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office worked with us,” Effingham County Sheriff’s Office Detective David Ehsanipoor said. “We give them a lot of credit.”
Thorne was in the Effingham County Jail awaiting trial for aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault, high jacking a motor vehicle, armed robbery and fleeing and attempting to elude law enforcement. He faces additional charges, including escape and interference with government property. Thorne was indicted by a grand jury in March of 16 charges.
Thorne will be extradited back to Georgia after he faces burglary charges in Florida. He was said to be living in a tent in the woods off I-95 in Jacksonville at the time of his arrest.
Last December, Thorne led deputies on a high-speed chase — after he ran one vehicle off the road and carjacked a couple who had stopped to help him — and then barricaded himself in a vehicle, holding officers at bay for hours before surrendering.
Authorities believe he got out of the jail through an air duct and made his way onto the roof.