James Lee Bartholomew, who escaped last month from Grays Harbor County Corrections Facility, is back in custody.

Police in Tumwater apprehended him while investigating a suspicious situation at a motel, Undersheriff Brad Johansson said.

Tumwater officers observed a woman in a Motel 6 parking lot acting suspiciously near a car. They approached her, but she left the scene on foot. When officers looked at the vehicle, they notice what appeared to be a person hiding under blankets, Johansson wrote in an email.

After exiting the vehicle, the person was identified as Bartholomew.

“Bartholomew was arrested on his escape warrant out of Grays Harbor County superior court,” Johansson wrote.

After obtaining a warrant to search the vehicle, officers found what they believe to be heroin and methamphetamine.

He was transported to Grays Harbor County jail, where he is being held on $1,000,000 bond. He now faces drug charges as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm charges.

Late last month, Bartholomew walked away from the jail after hiding out in a garbage can and being wheeled out the doors by a fellow inmate.

Keith Deitrick was in court this month on a charge of second degree escape from custody for his role in helping Bartholomew, Johansson said.

When he escaped, Bartholomew, who is from Hoquiam, was about to enter a plea to drug and weapon offenses and faced a lengthy prison sentence.

Three trash bins sit last month outside the Grays Harbor County jail in Montesano. On June 26, an inmate from Hoquiam used a trash bin to escape by crawling inside and being taken outside by another inmate, the County Sheriff’s Office said. (Michael Lang | The Vidette)