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| Early Release Inmate Charged in String of Thefts, Robberies |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/20/2003 |
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A man arrested in western Kentucky was charged with a string of crimes that allegedly began the same day he was released early from jail by order of Gov. Paul Patton. Gregory Dale Hiner, 25, was among nearly 900 inmates across the state who were released early because of a budgetary shortfall. Hiner was charged March 10 in a two-state crime spree that involved four stolen vehicles and three armed robberies. He is the second inmate released early from jail under the cost-cutting measure to be charged with robbing an Owensboro-area bank within days after being freed. Other inmates who were released early have been charged with rape and kidnapping. Hiner had been serving time in the Daviess County Detention Center on a felony conviction of receiving stolen property. He was scheduled to be released Feb. 14, before the early release knocked about a month off his sentence. Police allege that Hiner stole a car within hours of his release on Jan. 17. 'This guy embarked on a virtual crime spree right up until the time he was apprehended,' said Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain. Police said one of the cars Hiner allegedly stole was used as a getaway car in a Feb. 11 robbery of a convenience store. The store's clerk suffered a heart attack immediately after the robbery, underwent heart bypass surgery and remained in the hospital for more than two weeks before being released. That car was later found abandoned in Noble County, Ind., where the Lincoln sport-utility vehicle was stolen. It was driven back to Daviess County and allegedly used in a Feb. 16 robbery of the same convenience store. Another stolen car was allegedly used by Hiner in a Feb. 21 robbery of First Security Bank and Trust in Utica. In all three robberies witnesses reported a man in a black jacket with a partially concealed face who brandished a gun and then fled in a car that was later determined to be stolen. After Hiner was stopped by police in Beaver Dam on March 8, a search of the vehicle he was driving revealed car keys for the other cars that were stolen. Police also recovered clothing allegedly used in the robberies and shoes that matched footprints left at the scene. |
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