A barefoot hospital-gown escapee who spent his final hours of freedom pleading with Covington residents for a drink of water is back in custody. Timothy Shane, 52, was arrested without incident early Wednesday morning, ending a tense two-day search that stretched across three metro Atlanta counties and kept entire neighborhoods on edge.
Shane vanished from Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta just after 1:20 a.m. Monday. Rockdale County deputies had brought him there Sunday night after he staged a suicide attempt inside the county jail, a calculated move, authorities say, designed to get him out of the more secure lockup and into an environment where escape was possible.
Within minutes of slipping away, surveillance cameras captured him stealing an SUV parked near the hospital, a vehicle that also contained a Glock handgun he took with him. The stolen SUV was not in use for long. Shane crashed it into another motorist at a Midtown intersection, seriously injuring the driver, then fled on foot.
By early afternoon, he had taken a second car, a silver Pontiac Grand Prix, from a parking lot near Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He abandoned that vehicle hours later at a Publix in Henry County and even ordered an Uber toward a familiar address in south Rockdale County, showing a surprising level of calm resourcefulness for someone still wearing remnants of hospital clothing.
But by Tuesday evening, exhaustion and dehydration had taken over. Residents in Covington began reporting a disheveled man in a gray or red hoodie going house to house, telling people he was a lost hunter who had been “in the woods for hours” and just needed water. Several homeowners recorded the encounters on Ring doorbell cameras.
One woman called 911 around 2:50 a.m. Wednesday, after Shane banged on her door and refused to leave. Minutes later, Covington police and Newton County deputies flooded the area and took him into custody in the 9000 block of Morris Drive.
“Those videos were the turning point. He tried to stay low-profile, but knocking on doors in the middle of the night and asking for help made him impossible to miss.”
— Newton County Sheriff’s Captain Chris Williams
“We hold ourselves to the highest standard. That standard was not met, and we will fix it.”
— Rockdale County Sheriff Eric Levett
Shane now faces a long list of new charges on top of the ones that originally landed him in jail: escape, motor-vehicle theft, aggravated assault related to the crash, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and others. His original November 23 arrest stemmed from a high-speed chase through Conyers in which police say he kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and reached speeds above 120 mph.
A $5,000 reward offered for information leading to his capture will be paid out to the residents whose tips and footage sealed the case.
For the people of Covington who opened their Ring apps to see a wanted fugitive on their porch, the episode was a jarring reminder of how quickly danger can arrive at the front door. Yet it was also proof that everyday technology and alert neighbors can bring even the most determined escapee to a rapid end.
Shane is back at Rockdale County Jail tonight, under significantly tighter watch.
