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Nashville police catch fourth fugitive teen, find him with rifle and boxes of ammo

Police arrested the 17-year-old boy, the last escapee who was still at large, at an apartment where officers found a large gun and ammunition.
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A 17-year-old boy who was among four teenagers who escaped a juvenile detention facility in November was arrested Thursday, ending a nearly two-week manhunt.

Brandon Caruthers, who is accused of armed robbery, is the last of the four fugitives to be captured after they fled from the detention center in Nashville, Tennessee, on Nov. 30, according to Metropolitan Nashville Police department.

Brandon Caruthers
Brandon Caruthers.Nashville police department

Police arrested Caruthers Thursday at an Antioch apartment complex where officers found a large gun and boxes of ammunition. Two adults, a man and woman, who were in the apartment with Caruthers were also taken into custody, police said.

The other three teens who escaped were caught last week

Morris Marsh, 17, who is accused in the April 8 slaying of a 19-year-old man, was apprehended after a police chase Friday, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said.

Marsh was a passenger in a 2018 Nissan Rogue driven by his brother when he was apprehended around 9 p.m., police said. The pursuit ended at a gas station where Marsh's mother was waiting, and both family members were also arrested, according to the department.

Decorrius Wright, 16, who is accused of murder, and Calvin Howse, 15, who is charged in an auto theft and gun possession case, were arrested in Madison, Tennessee, on Dec. 3, police said.

Authorities said Thursday that a Crime Stoppers tip led to Caruthers' arrest. Police said Monday that the reward for information leading to his capture had increased to $10,000.

Two former juvenile detention center employees, Patrick Jones and Alexis Beech, were arrested Wednesday for allegedly facilitating, through recklessness, the teens' escape.

Authorities said at the time that the fugitive teens "used staff protocols" to leave the detention center when their supervisor went to address a fight.

The police department said in a statement that Jones allowed the four teens to leave their housing units to perform cleaning tasks after lockdown hour, and "three of the four teens were not even eligible to participate on a work detail due to low behavioral scores."

Jones also did not secure the elevator after he had used it, which the four used to escape, according to police. And when he left to respond to an assistance call, he allegedly failed to recognize that the four were unsupervised.

The former supervisor was employed by contractor Youth Opportunity Investments, police said.

Details of Beech's alleged involvement were not immediately available from police

Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said in a statement days after the escape that he had "become increasingly concerned about the contract employees’ operation of the detention center since first being briefed on the initial details of the escape," and noted the 35-minute delay before police were called.