A Webster County Jail inmate had a brief period of freedom last week when he escaped during booking and assaulted a bail bondsman during the process, authorities said.
Sheriff Tim Mitchell and the Webster County Sheriff’s Department provided this information about the incident, which occurred about 3:45 p.m. Feb. 20:
Mondello Holman, 27, of Winona was being held for the Winona Police Department for contempt of court charges (failure to pay and failure to report). He was up front with a jailer and deputy to make his phone call when he asked to see a his bail bondman.
When bail bondsman Larry Edwards arrived and entered through the booking/lobby area door after being buzzed in, Holman pushed him aside and ran out the front door.
Holman was pursued by the jailer and deputy, and was caught about 4:20 p.m. near a barn off Highway 182 west of Eupora. The Eupora and Mathiston police departments assisted in the search.
“We were right on his tail and he was never out of our sight,” said Mitchell, who added that Holman gave no resistance when apprehended. “We locked the hospital and nursing home down only as a precaution while we attempted to locate and apprehend Mr. Holman.”
The sheriff said Edwards, who was bleeding a little after being knocked down, was taken to North Mississippi Medical Center-Eupora but was OK.
Holman is serving 30 days on the misdemeanor contempt charges and the subsequent escape charge filed by the WCSD carries a six-month sentence. Mitchell said an additional charge against him of assaulting a vulnerable adult (Edwards, who is over 65) will be presented directly to the grand jury.
The incident occurred only two weeks after state inmate Eugene Robinson, who had escaped from a correctional facility in Lucedale, showed up on foot at Waymon Betts’ house north of Eupora. Betts, not aware he was an escapee, did not let him in but agreed to give him a ride into town, pocketing his pistol before leaving.
En route, Robinson pulled a knife on Betts and stole his pickup, authorities said. Betts shot at the truck as Robinson was driving away, but he only received a flesh wound. Law enforcement officers apprehended him shortly after on Highway 15 south of Mathiston.
