A man arrested in August for eluding law enforcement in Cortez made a second attempt to get away.
Meren Ed Thompson, 43, of Sarasota, was arrested Dec. 6 by a Seminole County Sheriff deputy on a warrant after a Nov. 23 escape from the Manatee County jail.
Thompson had been serving time in jail for an Aug. 27 arrest when he escaped through a gap in a fenced-in work area.
On the day of his jailbreak, Thompson was working at a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office aquatic farm. At the end of the shift, authorities could not find him.
According to the MCSO, Thompson carjacked a truck in Hillsborough County, and was found in Sanford, Florida, by Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
Thompson was re-booked into the Manatee County jail Dec. 8. He is being held without bond after a Dec. 9 appearance in 12th Judicial Circuit Court.
From the Cortez arrest, Thompson faces charges of auto theft, driving with a suspended license, fleeing and eluding law enforcement and striking a police canine. He had allegedly led deputies on a chase, jumped from a moving vehicle, fled on foot and hid from police until a sheriff’s canine found him under a home in the 12200 block of 45th Avenue.
Thompson’s arraignment for the jail escape is set for 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 9, before 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Susan B. Maulucci at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
A Jan. 23, 2015, docket sounding and Feb. 2, 2015, trial period are scheduled on the case stemming from his arrest in Cortez.