Juvenile Escapee from North Carolina Found in Walmart Parking Lot in Rockwood

According to Roane County Sheriff Jack Stockton and Rockwood Police Chief Bill Stinnett, around 9:00 this morning and area of the Rockwood Walmart parking lot was roped off after an investigation of a stolen vehicle and a 16-year-old juvenile escapee from North Carolina was found asleep inside the vehicle.

Roane Deputy Larry Eaton allegedly was the first to notice the vehicle in the parking lot and alerted other authorities of the vehicle which was allegedly stolen from North Carolina. Rockwood Police Department officials assisted the Sheriff’s Department in clearing the area around the vehicle to make sure that other patrons were not harmed as they detained the juvenile. He has now been taken to the Roane County Juvenile Detention Facility awaiting extradition back to North Carolina. No weapons were found in the vehicle, but the juvenile allegedly had broken his leg irons and had stolen the vehicle in North Carolina and made it to Rockwood where again he was found asleep in the vehicle there this morning.