Brown County escaped inmate taken into custody

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - UPDATE 9/7/2022

An inmate who escaped from Brown County Jail is back in custody.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office says Justin J. Dietrich, 35, was arrested at about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday.

“He was not cooperative and our K-9 was used to assist in the apprehension,” reads a statement from the Brown County Sheriff’s Office. “Dietrich was taken to the hospital for a medical check before being returned to the BC Jail.”

No officers were hurt during the arrest.

The Sheriff’s Office is also investigating those who helped Dietrich during his escape.

The Sheriff’s Office received help from Green Bay Police, Brown County Drug Task Force and the Brown County K-9 Unit.

Dietrich escaped through the loading dock area of the jail at about 10:30 Monday morning and ran east through farm fields. Officers spent hours searching.

The Sheriff’s Office says there have been changes at the loading dock and kitchen access due to the investigation. The rest of the jail is operating as usual.

Dietrich was serving a probation sentence until mid-December for domestic violence disorderly conduct. He was also being held on $3,000 bond on several drug charges including manufacture/delivery of amphetamines and fentanyl, possession of meth, and maintaining a drug trafficking place.

The manhunt for an escaped Brown County Jail inmate continued Tuesday.

Justin James Dietrich, 35, of Wausaukee, was serving a probation sentence until mid-December for domestic violence disorderly conduct. He was also being held on $3,000 bond on several drug charges including manufacture/delivery of amphetamines and fentanyl, possession of meth, and maintaining a drug trafficking place.

We talked with neighbors and many of them already heard about Dietrich’s escape. The common question they had was, how did he get past security?

“It takes a lot of guts to, you know, walk away and escape,” Craig Zeise said.

“I’m very surprised that this happened,” Mandy Lawniczak said.

As we told you in a First Alert, Dietrich escaped through the loading dock area of the jail at about 10:30 Monday morning and ran east through farm fields. Officers spent hours searching.

His escape has some people concerned.

“Who knows, though, if he runs out of money he might do something, you know, out of the ordinary to gain some resources, that sort of thing,” Zeise said.

But others don’t feel an immediate danger.

“He’s not making me nervous. It looks like it’s mostly drug charges, and it’s his girlfriend that he’s looking for, I guess, so I don’t feel he’s a threat to the rest of us,” Lawniczak said.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office believes an argument with his girlfriend was the motivation for the escape.

The sheriff’s office has declined our interview requests.

“He’s going to slip up somehow, somewhere, someone’s going to talk, whatever the case may be, and he’ll be back, incarcerated for probably a longer time this time,” Zeise said.

“But I would like to know what went wrong and that they’re identifying the root cause so they can prevent it from happening for the next guy,” Lawniczak said.

The sheriff’s office asks anyone with information that could help them locate Dietrich should call dispatchers. You can also give your tip anonymously and possibly receive a reward through Green Bay Area Crimestoppers, 920-432-STOP (7867) or visit www.432stop.com.

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