Escaped NERCC inmate found, arrested
May 17—The inmate who walked away Sunday from the Northeast Regional Corrections Center in Saginaw has been found and arrested.
Jesse James Crabtree, 48, of Hibbing, left the facility around 2:30 p.m., the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Deputies, St. Louis County Rescue Squad members and Hermantown police officers responded to the call.
Authorities warned residents in the area, and used a drone and a K-9 unit to try and find Crabtree. "It is believed that Crabtree had contacted someone to pick him up, prior to fleeing from NERCC," the Sheriff's Office said.
Later Sunday night, a person who lives in Industrial Township called the authorities to report Crabtree as a suspicious person on their property. The Sheriff's Office responded with a K-9 unit and a drone and tracked down Crabtree in a swamp around 10:15 p.m. He was arrested and taken to the St. Louis County Jail on an escape from custody charge.
The Northeast Regional Corrections Center is a 144 bed minimum / medium security correctional facility, with the vast majority of inmates under minimum security. NERCC is a working correctional farm. Programs and services include education, vocational training, chemical dependency treatment, mental health treatment, individual counseling and sex offender treatment.
This story was updated at 7:45 a.m., May 17, 2021, with additional information from the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office. It was originally posted at 7:20 p.m., May 16, 2021.
