LMPD: Man who escaped police custody still on the run after kidnapping on Brownsboro Road

Lucas Aulbach and Rae Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal
Updated ·2 min read
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Louisville Metro Police officials are searching for a man who escaped from police custody Thursday morning in the city's East End.

The man, identified as 31-year-old Norman K. Wolfe, broke out of an SUV being driven by a Trimble County deputy jailer at 8:40 a.m. near the Interstate 71 and Interstate 265 exchange, according to LMPD spokesperson Aaron Ellis. Drivers were advised to stay out of the area at that time as police searched.

About 11:30 a.m., Ellis said, officers were informed Wolfe had kidnapped two people in the 8500 block of Brownsboro Road about an hour earlier and forced them to drive him to an area near the River Road and Edith Road intersection. The two kidnapping victims were unharmed, he said.

Wolfe had not yet been found by 4 p.m. Thursday. Anyone with information about his location is asked to contact LMPD at 502-574-5673 or through the department's crime tip hotline.

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Wolfe had recently been charged in Jefferson County with burglary, fleeing and evading police and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. He was also facing charges in Trimble County, which is why a jailer from that Kentucky locale was driving the SUV he escaped. He will face additional charges after he is taken back into custody, Ellis said.

The nearby Kentucky Country Day School entered soft lockdown as police investigated the escape near I-71 and I-265, parents were told. Additionally, several Jefferson County Public Schools – Norton Commons Elementary, Norton Elementary, Bowen Elementary, Chancey Elementary, Wilder Elementary, Zachary Taylor Elementary, Kammerer Middle, Westport Middle, Ballard High and the Westport Early Childhood Center – briefly suspended outdoor activities, according to the district, though they were given the all-clear by LMPD about 12:30 p.m.

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This story will be updated.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach Rae Johnson at rnjohnson@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: LMPD searching for Norman Wolfe after inmate escapes police custody