Runaway Bride Mows the Lawn

Jennifer Wilbanks briefly spoke when the mower’s engine died in tall, wet grass. Daniel Yee of AP met her in Lawrenceville, GA.

“I’m doing well,” said Wilbanks. “I need to get back to work. I don’t want to get into trouble,” she added.

Her lawn mower then kept dying in the grass, each time prompting her to repeatedly yank on the pull string to restart it. After the eighth time it quit, she let out a big sigh.

In all, she was ordered to do 120 hours of service. Wilbanks had already completed 16 hours of her sentence by cleaning probation offices and washing public vehicles. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Peggy Chapman said Wilbanks planned to work off eight more hours Tuesday, also picking up trash.

“She’s a hard worker. She didn’t take advantage of anything. She did more work than most people,” said 17-year-old Michael Powell, who has cleaned bathrooms and offices with Wilbanks while working off his own sentence of 80 hours of community service for an offense he declined to disclose.