Jeremy Taylor, 49, escaped by breaking through a jail window that the Sheriff’s Office said “was previously considered to be securely built into the facility.”
Taylor was in jail on charges that included first-degree rape, kidnapping an adult for purposes of sexual assault, burglary, breaking and entering a vehicle, first-degree sodomy and possession of a controlled substance.
Deputies with dogs could be seen near the jail Sunday searching for Taylor.
According to a search warrant affidavit by Hartselle police, a woman returned to her home after grocery shopping at 9:45 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2020. She showered and at about 11 p.m. entered her bedroom and discovered a man she did not know.
“She began screaming but the unknown male placed her in a headlock and told her he would put her to sleep if she wasn’t quiet,” according to the affidavit. “Afterwards, the unknown male raped her for about an hour.”
The man told her to take a shower and when she got out he was gone and she called the police.
The victim later identified the man as Taylor when she saw a mugshot of him on Facebook related to his earlier arrest on a drug charge, according to Hartselle police. DNA samples from the rape kit were compared to DNA samples of Taylor, according to police, and they matched.
