MACON, Ga. — Word about the inmates escaping the Bibb County Jail spread Monday morning 8 hours after the escapees fled.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office notified local businesses and schools about the incident with orders to take precautions.
Those precautions were not high-alert for some, given the inmates left the jail in a car and were most likely not in the general vicinity.
However, a local restaurant still took precautions to protect its employees and customers.
Nature's Table is a restaurant on Spring Street under the Lofts at Navicent, less than a five-minute drive from the jail on Oglethorpe Street.
Vanessa Strong is one of the managers and said she "locked the back door as soon as I heard about it."
The front door was still unlocked and available for customers to use.
When 13WMAZ showed the mugshots of the four escapees, Strong felt much more reassured keeping their faces in mind and being able to know who to look out for.
Yet, she and her employee Zykeria Harris said she was concerned about the current conditions and operations of the jail.
"My thing is how have they been able to get out of prison?" she asked. "Like, is there a guard in there helping them or something? Like, this is crazy. It's been the second time in not even a month."
In September, Bibb County Sheriff opened an investigation after a man damaged gates at the jail and attempted to smuggle contraband into the jail, according to a police report.