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Alabama authorities issue arrest warrant for corrections officer in inmate escape

Authorities in Alabama on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Lauderdale County Jail corrections officer Vicki White, pictured here, charging her with aiding in the escape of inmate Casey White. Photo via Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office/UPI
1 of 4 | Authorities in Alabama on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Lauderdale County Jail corrections officer Vicki White, pictured here, charging her with aiding in the escape of inmate Casey White. Photo via Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office/UPI | License Photo

May 2 (UPI) -- Authorities in Alabama on Monday announced an arrest warrant for a corrections officer who disappeared alongside an inmate over the weekend.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said a warrant had been issued for Vicki White, the assistant director of corrections at Lauderdale County Jail, charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree after she was last seen with inmate Casey White on Friday morning.

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Singleton said at a press conference Monday that he believes Casey White's escape was "orchestrated" and that Vicki White, played a role. The two are not related despite sharing a last name.

"There's no question she assisted in this escape," Singleton added, noting it was unclear if she was coerced to do so. "We won't know for sure what the situation was until we get a chance to talk to director White."

Vicki White had filed for retirement, with Friday scheduled to be her last day on the job, and was living with her mother for the five weeks before her disappearance after she sold her house.

"We don't know if she was took by force or if she was voluntarily in this," said Vicki White's mother, Pat Davis. "But we just want her back. That's all we want."

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Vicki White claimed she was taking Casey White to a nearby courthouse for a mental health evaluation, even though no such evaluation was scheduled, and that she broke protocols requiring two deputies to transport an inmate.

"This leads us, again, to believe it was orchestrated because we had two vans of inmates leave just minutes before Director White had Casey White brought up front. Both of those vans and two deputies on them. One had five inmates, the other had seven inmates."

Surveillance video showed that the pair left the jail, with Casey White likely laying in the backseat of the patrol vehicle to avoid detection until they arrived at Florence Square shopping center where they swapped vehicles.

The video was seen on video at the shopping center about eight minutes after leaving the jail and a member of the public also reported seeing the vehicle in the parking lot. Deputies searched the vehicle but did not find any evidence.

Singleton again warned Monday that Casey White, who is 6-feet-9-inches tall and was facing two counts of capital murder, was "an extremely dangerous person" and was likely armed since Vicki White was carrying a firearm when they left the jail.

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"She's definitely in danger, willingly or not. This guy's no one to mess with," he said.

Casey White previously planned to escape the jail and take a hostage in 2020, but detention center employees caught him.

On Sunday, the U.S. Marshals Service offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to Casey White's capture.

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