There is an active search still underway with deputies posted at intersections in Conroe neighborhoods as searchers try to zero in on the escapee. Deputies are stopping vehicles as they search for the suspect.
"We're all quarantined. We're on a lockdown," said resident Mark Allen. "We might as well be in jail ourselves."
Helicopters hovered overhead as well. It's an area with both homes and businesses, but heavily wooded, about a mile or two south of the Montgomery Co. Jail. Britt Privatte, 40, escaped from there yesterday.
"I don't like criminals in my 'hood," said Allen.
Investigators say Privatte scaled a wall at the jail yesterday afternoon. They tell us now he did so only with the help of other inmates who allegedly gave Privatte a boost over the wall in the recreation yard. It's not clear how he defeated fencing on top of that wall.
Privatte was in custody on several charges including burglary and aggravated robbery. He's also accused of trying to run over a Huntsville police officer. Investigators consider him dangerous. There were sightings overnight of a man fitting Privatte's description in the area along Dallas Street.
"We have to consider him dangerous. We have to encourage anyone that may run across him not to take action themselves, but to call law enforcement immediately," said Lt. Dan Norris with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
If you recognize Privatte or know anything that can help authorities locate him, you are urged to call Montgomery Co. Crime Stoppers at 800-392-STOP. Anonymous tips can also be made through the Montgomery County Crime Stoppers website at
MontgomeryCountyCrimeStoppers.org. The reward for information leading to his capture has been increased to $5,000.
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