Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace might be taking a ride to West Virginia sometime soon as escaped inmate Lucas Paul Hull has been captured in the Mountain State.
Concluding a manhunt that spanned across three states and seven days, West Virginia State Police captured Hull at about 10 p.m. Monday. Hull, 24, formerly of Erie, Pa., was found at an uncle's house in the small town of Neola, W.Va., which is located in the southeastern part of the state near the Virginia border.
''It's a fairly remote area, but we had extra patrols out that way to look for him because of the holiday weekend,'' said Sgt. V.S. Deeds of the West Virginia State Police. ''Other than finding him Monday, we didn't have any other contact with him in the state.''
West Virginia police were on Hull's trail Monday after they found a stolen Chevy Avalanche with Pennsylvania plates which he was reportedly last seen driving.
''Once we found the truck, we received information that he might be at a relative's house nearby,'' Deeds said. ''He was hiding in the attic of his uncle's house, but he didn't put up a struggle when we came to get him.''
Hull was taken to the Southern Regional Jail in West Virginia on fugitive of justice warrants and is being held awaiting an extradition hearing.
''We were able to take him into custody and recover the stolen property without anyone getting hurt,'' Deeds said. ''The hearing will take place sometime in the next 10 days, and unless he appeals extradition, he will be coming back to New York.''
Gerace said that depending on whether New York or Pennsylvania get him first, they may be taking a ride to West Virginia to pick up Hull. He added that either way, ''the important thing is he has been captured.''
Hull was working at the Ellery Landfill on Aug. 25 when he was reported missing by a corrections officer around 1 p.m. According to Gerace, Hull asked to use the restroom and disappeared behind a large pile of tires before allegedly jumping into a county-owned pickup truck, which had the keys in it, and leaving the landfill.
A description of Hull and the GMC truck were released to local media and Gerace, along with several other law enforcement agencies, collaborated to find Hull. The truck was found last Wednesday near Union City, Pa., but Hull was not found. Gerace said the truck had some scratches on it but otherwise seemed to be in good condition.
Pennsylvania State Police were heavily involved in the investigation early on, according to Gerace. He said Hull is believed to be involved with a vehicle stolen from Grove City, Pa. which was also found in Union City, Pa.
The Avalanche, which was found shortly before Hull was Monday, was reportedly taken from Spartansburg, Pa.
''I'm pleased he is in custody and no one was hurt in this episode,'' Gerace said. ''Now he's going to be serving a lot of time for a short run of freedom.''
Hull was most recently convicted on felony criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle charges, and scheduled to be released from the Chautauqua County Jail in November. But Gerace said since Hull had a pending parole violation in Pa., he would have been serving additional time after his release from Mayville.
Gerace anticipates Hull will be facing additional charges in all three states.
''He is already facing charges for escaping and criminal possession of stolen property up here,'' he said. ''He could be charged with a number of things for taking the stolen property across state lines.''
Gerace said two employees have been suspended in connection with the incident and civil actions are pending. He said he couldn't go into further detail about possible penalties and specifics, but said the process can take some time to resolve.
