Grubhub may be a food delivery service, but the platform also helps capture runaway criminals. Only one order at a time.
According to a video posted by 13WMAZ, among the four inmates captured was Marc Kerry Anderson who Bibb County Sheriff David Davis describes was found through a series of messages.
The sheriff’s office said they had evidence that Tymeshia Timely was using the app to order food for Mark Anderson and have it delivered to him at a high-rise Atlanta apartment.
The last no contact drop off order arrived at 11:50 am. Timely had paid $38.63 for a Grubhub order well spent at Atlanta’s local, Ms. Ruby’s Peach Cobbler Café. Its dishes are “Made From Scratch, Made With Love.”
The delivery service took a photo outside the apartment door that the sheriff’s office was able to see. In two and a half hours, Marc Anderson would send Timely a text: “Police at da door baby I’m goin back to jail,” according to information shown in the sheriff’s office video.
For almost three weeks, Anderson remained in hiding at a luxury high-rise apartment nearly two hours away from the jail. His cover would later be unveiled with the unintentional help of a Grubhub employee.
For contactless deliveries, the worker usually verifies the order’s arrival with a picture identifying where the food was requested to be dropped off. But unfortunately, in Anderson’s case, his room number was revealed in the image as well.
On November 3, 2023, Timely was arrested around 10 a.m. Hours later, Anderson would send his farewell text shortly before he was taken into custody.
A crowd of law enforcement agencies had formed behind this relationship’s grand scheme.
Marc Anderson was one of the four inmates who escaped the Bibb County Detention Center on October 16, 2023. The Macon jail’s 44-year-old state served as an advantage to their limits in tools of a chisel and hammer.
“It’s an old decrypted jail,” Sheriff David Davis said in the video.
But the jail’s conditions weren’t the only issue. A lack of staff had impacted security as well. There was only one officer monitoring the area of the breakout. Travaris Freeman’s supervision was later investigated, and he was terminated for not following the procedures and rules of the sheriff’s office.
The night of the escape would bring light to these deficiencies of the jail.
“It got the commissioners to make the decision to build a new jail it brought the sheriff’s office to capture inmates its nothing the way it was before the escape,” Davis said.
Since the recapture of the inmates, the Sheriff’s Department has moved forward with a $1.5 million investment in renovating the jail. Much will include improving locking mechanisms, rechanging cell blocks, and adding more security systems. As with any project, several investments must be made for a promising result.
“Think of it as an apartment and house, lieutenants and inmates live here,” Davis said.
He explains that issues in the jail are due to constant wear and tear and money will have to continue to be spent. Davis adds that as an agent you will have challenges and how they are met and rose upon in a quick manner will contribute to a restful resolution. In an effort to instill the importance of security consciousness, the sheriff’s office has doubled its exertions in training. Every day is a training day for officers. Their days will consist of specialized jail and inmate management classes that will encourage all employees to have a basic learning of jail protocols.
In the month of investigation, a series of partnerships led all members to serve a role in recapturing the inmates.
“We can be grateful no other serious incidents happened because of their escape, it gets all of our people together that something like this doesn’t happen again,” Davis said.
The sheriff added that the deputies take pride in what they do and that they wouldn’t want the escape to tarnish the office’s reputation. He thanks all who contributed to the incident, including the intelligence analysts who have assisted them with many cases.
