Lewis Stewart and his girlfriend Cassidy Loper were wanted in Georgia on drug trafficking charges when they were taken into custody in South Carolina. While awaiting extradition, Stewart hatched an unsuccessful plot to escape, officials said.
A South Carolina man being held in jail on drug trafficking charges was caught trying to escape through a vent after his plan was foiled because he got stuck, authorities said.
Lewis Stewart, 31, and his girlfriend Cassidy Loper, 26, of Walhalla, South Carolina, were wanted in Georgia on charges including drug trafficking, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and fugitive from justice, officials said. Deputies with the Oconee County Sheriff's Office conducted a warrant service at a home Saturday and took the couple into custody, the sheriff's office said in a statement.
The couple was transported to the Oconee County Detention Center, where they were awaiting extradition to Rabun County, Georgia, when authorities say Stewart attempted to escape through a bathroom vent Tuesday morning.
Deputies established a perimeter around the jail to catch Stewart, but he ended up getting stuck inside a vent, which is where authorities later found him, officials said in a statement.
Though Stewart never left the confides of the detention center, he was slapped with an addition charge of attempting to escape from jail.
Neither Stewart nor Loper have entered any pleas in their case. They continue to await extradition to Georgia. It is unclear if they have obtained legal representation.
Oconee County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the case or Stewart's alleged attempted escape when reached by Inside Edition Digital.
