Southern Kentucky inmates facing additional charges after escape attempt

WHITLEY COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - An investigation is underway after an escape attempt at a Southern Kentucky jail.

It happened Friday night at the Whitley County Detention Center in Williamsburg.

Williamsburg police said they know of at least two ringleaders, but more people could be charged.

They said one of those ringleaders, Paul Brock, was recently convicted of murder and the other, Nicholas Rucker, is charged with murder and recently caught after being on the run for weeks.

We’re told Brock was in a transition stage after being sentenced to life in prison for several murders. The prosecutor tells us he was about to be sent to state prison.

Police said there was a rather elaborate plan for the escape attempt.

We’re told it started when Brock and Rucker got another inmate to purposely have a medical emergency by going off his insulin.

“The officers learned that these two individuals staged a medical emergency in a cell. That required attention from the guards. When the guards entered that cell, both Brock and Rucker forced those guards into an interior cell with the inmate having a diabetic emergency,” said Chief Wayne Bird, Williamsburg Police Dept.

Police said they, along with Kentucky State Police, responded to the jail when the escape attempt happened. Police say Brock and Rucker ended up just a door away from freedom when more officers arrived.

No inmates actually got outside the jail.

We are told police believe several other individuals, including other inmates and people outside the jail, were involved in the attempt. The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said they are going over the details of what happened to see about additional charges.

Copyright 2022 WYMT. All rights reserved.