A 44-year-old Great Mills man is wanted on an escape charge after deputies say he bolted into the woods and tore off his GPS ankle monitor rather than answer for violating the terms of his home detention. The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office identified him as James Robert Anderson Jr. and says investigators are still searching for him.
According to thebaynet.com, deputies responded on September 15 to the 21000 block of Liberty Street in Lexington Park to apprehend Anderson for allegedly violating the terms of his home detention. Instead of cooperating, Anderson fled into a nearby wooded area, where he tampered with and removed his GPS monitoring device, the outlet reports. As DailyVoice.com notes, he remains wanted for escape in connection with that incident.
A Record That Led to Home Confinement
Anderson had been placed on home detention following a conviction for possession of a controlled dangerous substance other than cannabis, along with a separate conviction for theft of less than $100, per investigators cited by the same report. Those convictions are what put him under the home-detention arrangement that deputies say he abandoned in the woods off Liberty Street.
What Counts as Escape Under Maryland Law
The allegations against Anderson fall under a Maryland statute that treats violations of home detention, and tampering with a required monitoring device, as a form of escape. Per the Maryland General Assembly, the provision covers violating a temporary-release, pretrial-commitment, custodial-confinement, or home-detention order or agreement, as well as removing, blocking, deactivating, or otherwise tampering with a required monitoring device, and classifies such a violation as a misdemeanor escape.
Anderson is described by investigators as a white male standing 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 240 pounds, with blue eyes and partially gray hair. The sheriff's office says the search for him is ongoing.
Tips Sought From the Public
Anyone with information about Anderson's whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Joseph Bowling of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office at [email protected], or by phone at 301-475-4200, extension 1959.
