A Tompkinsville man died from his burn injuries on Monday, February 24, after being airlifted to Nashville for treatment. Bobby M. Tooley, 71, of County House Rd., Tompkinsville, succumbed to his injuries and died later Monday night at Vanderbilt Hospital.

According to Deputy Sheriff Larry Dale Martin, Tooley had apparently been using gasoline to burn the grass and weeds from fence lines around his property when the fire spread too quickly and engulfed Tooley’s body.

A passer-by, Ricky Tooley, stopped and rendered help to put Tooley on the ground and attempt to roll him to put out the flames, but had to resort to getting water from his truck to pour on Tooley to stop the fire.

First responders, ambulance personnel and other emergency personnel were on scene within minutes to assist and a landing zone was established by the Monroe County Fire and Rescue for the air ambulance to land.

Tooley was transported to the burn center with severe burns over 90 percent of his body, Martin added.

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When Zachary Krueger saw an open door, he made the split second decision to go through it on Friday morning, February 28.

The only problem was that Krueger was inside the Monroe County Jail being processed on a technical parole violation when he headed out the door through the sallyport (drive-in area for law enforcement), which had also been left open.

Ricky Richardson, Chief Deputy Jailer, noted that Krueger was being processed when the deputy jailer on duty released the lock on the inside door to allow the Court Security (Transportation Officer) to leave the building. When Krueger heard the door release, he ran for the door, slammed it behind him with the automatic locks blocking officers from following him outside.

According to Tompkinsville Police Chief Dale “Frog” Ford, the dispatcher at the police department was monitoring the local emergency band radio and overheard of the escape. Additional notifications to the Kentucky State Police were also made, Richardson said.

Ford was told of the situation immediately and put out an “all-call” for all available officers to report for duty to assist in the search. Off-duty officers responded immediately in their patrol cars from their homes, allowing quick deployment into several areas surrounding the jail.

Before 15 minutes had expired, TPD Officer Jesse England found Krueger near an abandoned house on Mill Creek Road, just behind the jail and took him into custody.

Krueger may face additional charges in the incident.

Ford noted that schools were alerted of the incident and placed on lockdown until the situation was resolved.