There’s a reason they never show the reality of jail breaks in television or movies.

The oft-used entertainment plot device has off-screen implications in real life. Who wants to think about the uncertainty that someone wanted for a serious crime may show up at your door when you least expect it. That is the reality for some Warren County and Jamestown area residents have lived with twice in the past two months as Michael Burham twice evaded capture by authorities.

Saturday’s news that Burham had been captured near Logan Run Road in Warren County brings that uncertainty to an end. More than 200 Pennsylvania State Troopers poured into Warren County to capture Burham after his escape from the Warren County Jail on July 6 while police agencies in both Warren and Chautauqua counties participated in searches on both sides of the state line.

Burham, the prime suspect in the murder of Kala Hodgkins of Jamestown and setting a car on fire the same night as well as the kidnapping of a couple in Sheffield, had managed to find ammunition, according to Pennsylvania State Police, a sign the fugitive was likely looking for a way to arm himself. Knowing there were stockpiles found along the trail to Burham surely prompted many Warren County residents to pay attention to the search and make sure they were being more careful as they went about their day to day lives.

Things can get back to normal now thanks to the efforts of police agencies who kept the pressure on Burham and the quick thinking of Cindy and Ron Ecklund, county residents who encountered Burham on Saturday after their dog Tucker alerted the couple to Burham’s presence near a creek on their property. People like the Ecklunds are the reason why the search for Burham ended after nine days rather than the 160 days Ralph Phillips spent on the run back in New York state in 2006 before his capture in Warren County.

Thanks to the tireless work of regional law enforcement and a community that largely worked with police instead of against them, this jail break has a happy ending. A dangerous person is back behind bars — and no one else in our community was hurt.