An escape artist who recently got away from Marion County Sheriff deputies while being taken to the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute has been captured in North Alabama.
Johnny Lewis Payne was taken into custody on Monday night after a brief chase in Madison County, Ala. He was apprehended after wrecking the vehicle he was driving.
Payne had been staying at a home in a rural area.
The TBI had set a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of the 48-year-old Payne. He was added to the TBI's Most Wanted List."
He was being taken to Moccasin Bend under court order after he threatened to harm himself, it was stated.
Payne on June 2 had escaped from a jail in Coffee County, Ala. He was serving a 20-year sentence for receiving stolen property on a conviction out of Jackson County, Ala., in 2012.
While on the loose, he picked up new charges of carjacking and receiving stolen property after he stole a city truck in Elba, Ala., and drove it to Talladega.
The truck is still missing.
Authorities said he then stole a water truck from a construction site at Talladega and drove it to Marion County. He was captured there without incident.