Andrew Lee Jensen

Inmate escapes from county jail

Police: Jensen was only free for a few minutes

Staff report
A Jefferson man who began serving a five-year prison term for theft on Dec. 28 escaped Friday night from the Greene County Jail, but was found several blocks away inside a camper.

Andrew Lee Jensen, 33, had been brought back to Greene County on Jan. 28 from the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville for a court date related to the theft of a pickup from the Jefferson Hy-Vee in October, according to Greene County Sheriff Steve Haupert.

That was the truck Jensen was driving when he fled from police in Perry, touching off a chase.

Shortly before 10:15 p.m. Friday, Jensen showed his determination to keep running, reportedly bolting from the Greene County Jail as he was being taken back to his cell, according to a Greene County Sheriff’s Office report.

Jensen made his way out the front door of the Greene County Law Enforcement Center by running through an unlocked security door and then by throwing the weight of his body through another door adjacent to the visitation area.

It took just minutes for Jefferson police to find Jensen inside a fifth-wheel camper in a backyard in the 300 block of East Harrison Street. He was arrested without incident.

A deputy charged Jensen with escape and criminal mischief.

Jensen’s Oct. 26 chase in Dallas County ended about five miles south of Minburn, where stop sticks were deployed. He then ran from the pickup into a pasture, where he was taken into custody.

Ironically, the Greene County hearing Jensen was brought back for was postponed, Haupert said.

Haupert said deputies transported Jensen back to Coralville on Monday.

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