Arrests made in escape case

Published 12:00 am Thursday, November 14, 2002

Three people were arrested Wednesday evening in a case related to the escaped convicts Roy Doster and Bobby Phillips.

The Covington County Sheriff's Department

arrested Janie Meeks Fowler, 45, of Dozier,

Jerry Wayne Fowler,

48, also of Dozier,

and Sherry Hill Lamb, 37, of Red Level.

The trio has been charged with "Hindering Apprehension"

– a class A misdemeanor.

They were arrested for assisting the escapees while they have been on the run.

Their bond has been set at $150,000 a piece, according to Elliot King of the Covington County Sheriff's Department.

The two men they are accused of helping, 39-year-old Bobby Phillips and 27-year-old Oscar Roy Doster, remain at large.

Officers with the Sheriff's Deputies and other agencies continue to investigate leads, and an extensive search of Covington County and also neighboring counties for the two fugitives who escaped from the Covington County Jail, reportedly through a ventilation system, during the early morning hours of Nov. 4.

Since that time, the fatal shooting of a Gantt resident, and several break-ins and robberies, including VFW posts in Gantt and Red Level are all suspected to be linked to Phillips and Doster.

Agents such as the Alabama State Troopers, the Alabama Bureau of Investigations

and the FBI are also continuing to assist on the search.

King did not report any new leads on the two subjects earlier on Wednesday, but did report the

strong possibility of the three arrests.

Attempts to reach Sheriff Anthony Clark by telephone were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Mary Reeves contributed to this report.