LAWRENCE, Kan. — A convicted sex offender who escaped from a prisoner transport vehicle is back in custody after spending almost 24 hours on the run.
Deon Gregory Routt, 22, was being transported from Virginia to Colorado when he escaped in Lawrence around 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Police say that he was captured around 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon in a neighborhood near Memorial Stadium on the University of Kansas campus following a brief foot chase.
Police say Routt was one of several prisoners being transported from Virginia – where he was arrested on a warrant for failing to register as a sex offender – back to Colorado Springs. Around 5:30 Monday evening, police say the private security company doing the transport stopped in Lawrence near the intersection of 23rd and Louisiana.
When an employee got out to check on one of the prisoners, police say Routt ran.
Police conducted two searches Monday night- one near 23rd and Louisiana and another near 15th and Haskell Avenue. Police say they found only the red shirt they think Routt was wearing when he ran.
Topeka-based Security Transport Services told FOX 4 they did the transfer but declined to comment further. The company’s website says it quote “guarantees all transports will be completed in a safe, timely and efficient manner, in accordance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations promulgated by federal, state and local authorities.”
Police say they still have questions about exactly what happened.
“We’ve got some conflicting information on the level of restraint that he might have had we’ve been given information to indicate both that he was restrained and that he was potentially not restrained at the time that he fled,” says Sgt. Trent McKinley of the Lawrence Police Department.
