Four men held in central Georgia jail escaped and a search is underway: Sheriff

 Four men detained in a central Georgia jail escaped through a damd window and a cut fence early Monday morning, authorities said.

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis identified four as Joey Fournier, Marc Kerry Anderson, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell and Chavis Demaryo Stokes.

During a news conference Monday, Davis said that jail staff ticed a break in perimeter fence around 6 a.m. After watching video foot, y discovered four men were able to escape via a window in a second-floor dayroom and n through fence around 3:30 a.m., he said.

“y could be anywhere,” sheriff said, ding that he was t aware of any connections between men before y entered jail and doesn't kw wher y stayed toger once y escaped.

Video foot also showed a blue Dodge Challenger that h been just outside jail earlier in night and appeared to show someone tampering with fence. That person n brought some items into enclosed area, and sheriff said investigators believe items were used to help men escape. He did t say what items were.

Davis said it's t clear wher four men left jail in that car or in ar vehicle or wher y left on foot, but authorities would like to speak to driver of Challenger.

Local, state and federal authorities are searching for four men in what sheriff called an “all hands on deck situation.” y're asking anyone who has information regarding ir whereabouts to get in touch with Bibb County Sheriff's Office or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers. A $1,000 reward has been offered for information leing to recapture of men.

sheriff's office provided descriptions of four men:

Fournier, 52, is a white male with gray hair and blue eyes who is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He was being held on a murder charge after he was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in February 2022, according to local news outlets.

Anderson, 24, is a Black male with drelocks and is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. He is charged with aggravated assault.

Barnwell, 37, is a Black male with braids and is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. He was being held for U.S. Marshals Service on drug charges.

Stokes, 29, is a Black male with short black hair and is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He was being held on charges of possession of a firearm and drug trafficking.

Fournier and Anderson did t have attorneys listed in online court records. An attorney listed for Stokes did t immediately respond Monday to an email seeking comment about charges against him and alleged escape. An attorney for Barnwell said he didn’t have any comment.

“Right w my focus is getting se individuals back in jail, and we'll dissect what happened and fix that as we go forward,” Davis said.

Sometimes dayrooms are t locked at night, but that it's t typically an issue because detainees are supposed to be in bed in ar part of jail, Davis said. He said y're looking into how men were able to get into dayroom.

At time of escape, re were fewer than 10 people working at jail, which houses “a little over 800 detainees," sheriff said. Ideally, re would be 30 people working per shift, but y haven't h staffing levels like that for a long time, and sometimes it's as few as six or eight people, Davis said.

Staffing isn't only issue, he said. 43-year-old jail is “falling down on us” and escape happened in oldest and most rundown part of jail, Davis said.

He said an internal investigation will determine what exactly led to escape: “We're going to drill down into what happened last night.”