How to escape from the Gadsden County Jail

Murder suspect Gregory Sapp Jr., who burrowed out of the Gadsden County Jail on Sunday, wasn't the only recent escape from county lock-up — despite claims by Sheriff Morris Young that Sapp was the first escapee in 17 years.

On Jan. 21, 2014, Andrew Westberg, 36, was arrested after he said he accidentally shot a neighbor's window with a BB gun. Gadsden County Sheriff's Office Maj. Robert Barkley said deputies were called to a house in Havana that evening after neighbors said Westberg damaged their property.

Westberg was hauled off to the Gadsden County Jail on charges of criminal mischief and aggravated assault with a weapon without the intent to kill and put in a small cage-like room where arrestees go before being booked into the jail.

Westberg, who had outstanding warrants for violation of probation in Georgia, was handcuffed to a bench. He was allowed to use the bathroom, but when he returned, the guards did not re-cuff him to the bench.

Westberg, who said he had had a few mixed drinks in his system, was left in the room alone. So he flattened out the brim of his baseball cap straight enough to slip it between the door's crack and open the door. The four or five guards on scene were in another part of the jail.

Westberg said once he walked out of the door, he thought about going back in.

"But the door shut on me," he said. "So, well, the hell with it."

Barkley doubts Westberg could have unlocked the door and believes the door was left open. He couldn't explain how the guards didn't see Westberg walk out.

Westberg then left the Gadsden County Jail through an open garage door.

"Honestly, I don't think I was thinking at all," Westberg said. "I'm surprised they didn't see me walk out the door."

He went over to where a fence met the building, climbed it and hopped onto the roof. He then walked across the roof to the other side of the building, and climbed down another fence that came flush with the building.

When Westberg's feet hit the ground, he was free. He walked over to Murphy's, a store near the Walmart on Pat Thomas Parkway and called a friend, who unwittingly agreed to pick him up in the Walmart parking lot, unaware her friend had just escaped from jail.

Westberg said he doesn't know how long it took the guards to realize he was gone, but it took about 4 1/2 hours from the time he left at 8 p.m. to the time he was re-arrested and returned to jail at 12:30 p.m. Barkley said Westberg was returned to the jail, this time with an added escape charge, sometime after 11 p.m.

Westberg said he regrets doing what he did. He ended up serving six months in jail on the escape and the other charges. He was released Saturday after finishing his sentence.

"I don't plan on escaping no more. I know that," he added.

Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young told the Tallahassee Democrat on Monday that Sapp's escape was the first since 1998. On Thursday, Young defended his agency, saying crime was down in the county and that he keeps the community safe.

"Whatever type of incident that happens in Gadsden County I'm on top of it," he said.