Police have charged a prisoner who escaped from Goulburn jail yesterday.
About 1:30pm on Thursday, Ryan Wennekes, 29, escaped an area of the minimum security section of the correctional facility where inmates participate in work activities.
He was arrested a few hours later by officers while waiting for a train at Goulburn Railway Station.
Wennekes has been charged with inmate escape from lawful custody, assault and attempting to unlawfully take a motor vehicle with a person in it.
He is expected to face Goulburn Local Court today.
Locals can sleep easier
The community was on high alert as news spread of the jail break.
Kylie McCauley, who lives about 2 kilometres from the jail, said she saw police searching by foot and by air for hours after the escape was discovered.
"The helicopter started flying over and it was really, really low and I thought, 'oh no, what's going on?'" she said.
She then watched as patrol cars made their way up the walking track outside her house, combing bushland.
"I've only been here for three years so I haven't seen anything like this before.
"But it was really good to see all the police out and about."
One parent, whose children go to a nearby school, earlier told the ABC the campus was locked down when the alarm was raised and parents were asked to collect their children early.
