Hearings scheduled for family arrested on charges following jail escape
WAYNESBURG – Preliminary hearings have been scheduled for a Mount Morris man who escaped from the Greene County Prison on Dec. 27, as well as for his three siblings and their father, all who have been arrested on various charges for their alleged involvement in his escape.
Hearings will be held for Waylon Hanlan, 27; his siblings, Vanessa Hanlan, 23, of Dilliner, Clinton Hanlan, 21, of Greensboro and Shane Hanlan, 29, of Dilliner; and their father, Hodge Hanlan, 70, of Dilliner.
Waylon Hanlan, who had been in jail since Dec. 11 on a probation violation for simple assault and eluding police, fled from the Franklin Township prison by climbing a fence and running into the woods just before 8 p.m. Dec. 27.
Police said he then got into a car driven by his sister, Vanessa Hanlan, and the two left the area. Vanessa Hanlan took her brother to a family residence on Bald Hill Road in Dunkard Township, where he changed out of jail garb and she gave him keys to a car, police said.
Vanessa Hanlan was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Jesse Cramer on Dec. 28 on charges of hindering apprehension and conspiracy to commit escape, police said; following arraignment, she was committed to Greene County Prison in lieu of $25,000 straight bail, according to court records.
Waylon Hanlan was spotted in a Honda Civic by a state police helicopter on Dec. 29. Ground troops approached the vehicle, and Shane Hanlan and Waylon Hanlan escaped while Clinton Hanlan drove the vehicle into West Virginia where he was apprehended by the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, police said.
Waylon Hanlan was arrested and arraigned before Judge Cramer on escape charges and was returned to the Greene County Prison on Dec. 29 after bail was denied.
Clinton Hanlan was extradited from West Virginia to appear before Judge Cramer, where he was arraigned on charges of hindering apprehension and receiving stolen property; following arraignment, he was placed in Greene County Prison after failing to post $7,500 straight bail.
According to court records, Clinton Hanlan told police that after Waylon Hanlan escaped he arrived at the Bald Hill Road residence on an all-terrain vehicle, and Clinton Hanlan said Waylon Hanlan told him that he stole the ATV from a man after assaulting him.
Clinton Hanlan said he followed Waylon Hanlan in his vehicle to the Bobtown area, and later Waylon Hanlan told him to burn the ATV; however, Clinton Hanlan hid the ATV in a field near his Turkey Knob Road home where it was later recovered, police said.
On Jan. 6, state police received a tip that Shane Hanlan, who had been a fugitive since December 2014, was spotted with Hodge Hanlan driving toward Bobtown. Shane Hanlan had been on the Greene County Sheriff Department’s Most Wanted List for charges of receiving stolen property and failure to appear in court.
After receiving the tip, police then went to the Bald Hill Church Road residence and interviewed Hodge Hanlan, who told police that he had not seen or been with Shane Hanlan.
The following morning, at 6:15 a.m., members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force observed and apprehended Shane Hanlan at the residence after he was found on a couch that was directly next to another couch where Hodge Hanlan was sleeping, police said.
Police said Shane Hanlan resisted arrest, but he was subsequently taken into custody; in addition to charges of hindering apprehension, escape and flight to avoid apprehension, trial or punishment, he was also charged with resisting arrest and a second count of escape.
Following his arraignment before Magisterial District Judge Lee Watson, he was lodged in Greene County Prison after failing to pay $20,000 straight bail.
On Jan. 7, a warrant was obtained at Watson’s office for Hodge Hanlan for two counts of hindering apprehension or prosecution of Shane Hanlan.
State police responded to the residence to apprehend Hodge Hanlan, but he was not home at the time; he was apprehended a day later and arraigned on the charges before Watson, according to reports.
Following arraignment, Hodge Hanlan was lodged in Greene County Prison after failing to post $15,000 straight bail.
Preliminary hearings for Waylon Hanlan, Vanessa Hanlan and Clinton Hanlan have all been scheduled to be held before Judge Cramer on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 9:30 a.m.
Preliminary hearings for Shane Hanlan and Hodge Hanlan were previously scheduled to be held before Judge Watson earlier this week, but both hearings have been continued.
Their respective new hearing dates have not yet been scheduled as of press time.