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When Lycoming County Prison pre-release center inmate Todd Aaron Hill illegally walked out of the facility on County Farm Road in Loyalsock Township just before 9 a.m. on June 17, he jumped in the back seat of a waiting Ford Fusion and told driver June Gasper "Go, go, go, go," investigators with the Lycoming County District Attorney's alleged in an affidavit.
Riding in the front passenger seat was Mark Donnell Taner, who had recruited Gasper, a neighbor, to pick Hill up at the facility, court records stated. Gasper, 50, of 618 Pine St., apartment 1, and Tanner, of 614 Pine St., apartment 1, took Hill to the area of East Third Street and Westminster Drive, where he got out of the car, investigators said. During the very short ride, Hill, 48, of 1234 Ann St., changed clothing, which allegedly was provided by Tanner, investigators said. Tanner has since admitted he brought Hill a pair of sweatpants and gave him the T-shirt he was wearing, the affidavit stated. In exchange, Tanner put on the pre-release center sweatshirt that Hill had been wearing.
Gasper and Tanner were each arraigned Monday afternoon before District Judge Gary Whiteman on a felony charge of conspiracy in assisting with an escape and a misdemeanor charge of hindering apprehension.
A county maintenance supervisor and a counselor who saw Hill fleeing the pre-release center that June morning are credited with leading investigators to Gasper and Tanner, court records stated. The two followed the car, briefly losing sight of it near Four Mile Drive and Warrensville Road before spotting it again just moments after Hill got out of the vehicle, investigators said. The supervisor and counselor followed Gasper to the 1600 block of Sherman Street, where the car pulled over. Sheriff deputies were altered, and upon arriving on the scene, they detained Gasper and Tanner for questioning.
Tanner admitted that, on the morning of the escape, he got a call about 8 a.m. from Hill who said he "needed a ride, because he was 'getting out.'" Tanner said "I had a hunch he was bull (expletive),' adding that Hill sounded a little 'shady' on the phone," the affidavit stated. Tanner said he "did not believe that Hill was being truthful," investigators said. Still, Tanner said he got in touch with Gasper "to provide transportation," the affidavit stated. Tanner said that he had no idea where Hill was going after he got out of the car on East Third Street.
When Gasper was questioned, her version of events was quite different, investigators said. She told county detectives that Tanner approached her on June 16, telling her that Hill "needed a ride to work" the following morning, and she agreed to give him one. She told investigators that Hill, once in the car, told her to drop him off on East Third Street.
When investigators asked her if she could see "Hill moving around in the backseat, changing his clothes, Gasper explained she has a medical condition with her eyes, and that when she drives, she pays extreme attention to the road," the affidavit stated. She did admit to seeing "movement" in the backseat, but did not see Hill changing his clothes, investigators added.
Hill's break for freedom lasted less than 12 hours. He fled to a friend's residence on Old Route 220 in Piatt Township, investigators said. However, when the friend discovered him in her house when she got home late that afternoon, she texted an acquaintance to call 911. Tiadaghton Valley police arrived and arrested Hill after he was found hiding in the house. He was automatically jailed, and has since been charged with escape and related offenses. He remains locked up in the Lycoming County Prison on no bail.
Besides the hindering apprehension and conspiracy charges, Tanner faces an additional felony charge of delivery of a controlled substance that stems from him giving Hill 16 packets of suspected heroin moments after the escapee got in Gasper's car, investigators alleged.
On two occasions, Tanner was asked if he brought Hill any drugs. He said no even though Hill had asked him to do so, the affidavit stated. However, during a later interview with Hill after his capture, Hill contradicted Tanner's version, saying that Tanner gave him drugs once he got in the car, investigators were told. Hill admitted that while he was still on the run, he ditched the drugs in some bushes "next to a home on Meade Street in the city because police were in the area," the affidavit stated. Investigators later recovered the (suspected) packets that Hill allegedly hid, police said.
Tanner is now in the county prison in lieu of $40,000 bail while Gasper is locked up in lieu of $10,000 bail.