Monroe County sheriff’s deputies say Eric Fountain, 37, of Scottsville escaped from custody on Saturday after he was first taken into custody during a traffic stop that began around 3 a.m. and ended with a countywide search. He was found at 1:45 p.m. hiding in a large drainage pipe underneath the Court Street Bridge.
Deputies said the case started after a report that a stolen vehicle had been hit. During a stop at a Lyell Avenue gas station, Fountain lied about his identity, then was found with illicit and prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia. Deputies chased him on foot, arrested him on vehicle theft and drug possession charges, and brought him to a local hospital for shoulder pain before processing him at the public safety building.
That is where authorities say he slipped away while in handcuffs. A deputy was tackled, hit his head on the pavement and suffered minor injuries in the escape attempt; another deputy was later released from a local hospital after being injured. Once Fountain was seen jumping a fence and running toward Court Street and the Genesee River, law enforcement set up a perimeter and brought in help from the Monroe County Water Authority, the Greece Police Department’s tactical robot and the Rochester Fire Department.
Monroe County sheriff’s spokesman Matthew Kreuzer said the department will review how Fountain got out and make changes if investigators find gaps in security or process. He said the building has more secure and less secure areas for fingerprinting and booking, and in this case a suspect used the moment to exploit the security around him. Fountain was also wanted by the U.S. Marshals after violating a previous probation warrant, and Kreuzer said he would likely be taken to Monroe County CAP court or arraignment on the federal warrant after his medical evaluation.
The search ended the way deputies needed it to: with Fountain located, cornered and taken back into custody before nightfall. What remains now is whether the review finds a one-off lapse or a fixable weakness in the county’s booking process.
