CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — The Chesterfield Sheriff's Office is looking for an inmate who walked away from a work site. Stephen Andrew Martin, 21, an inmate on the Chesterfield County Jail’s work release program, failed to return to the jail from work release on June 21, according to police. Martin was serving a 20-month sentence for a nonviolent statutory burglary charge.
Martin took a break from his work release job at the Chester McDonalds on Sunday, and never came back, according to sources familiar with the situation.
“They gave him a chance, and he took it and ran," Stacey Carnes, who frequents McDonalds, said. "I just think he should do the right thing, turn himself in, be a man."
WTVR CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said it was rare for an inmate to squander their opportunity for work release.
"It’s never really a good idea to walk out on work release,” Stone said. “On work release it is typically not people who are dangerous people, so the sheriff takes a chance with them, and they’re allowed to go out and be productive and work.”
Stone said if police catch Martin, or he turns himself in, he will face a far worse punishment than his original sentence.
“He could be doubling or tripling the amount of time he serves in jail because he left work release,” Stone, said.
An investigation into Martin’s whereabouts is ongoing. The Sheriff’s Office obtained an escape warrant for him.
Anyone with information regarding Martin should contact the Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit at 748-1568 (after 5:00 call 748-1490) or Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Crime Solvers at 748-0660.
