Authorities still searching for escaped Arkansas inmate who stole pickup

Robert Woodward. He now has a graying beard, authorities said.
Robert Woodward. He now has a graying beard, authorities said.

Authorities are still searching for an inmate who escaped Tuesday morning while working outside an Arkansas prison and soon after stole a pickup, but officials said they had no new updates Wednesday.

Robert Woodward, 46, took off while he and other inmates were mowing near a cornfield by the Delta Regional Unit in Dermott around 8:20 a.m., said Solomon Graves, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Police think Woodward made it to a nearby gas station, where he stole a white 2013 Ford F-250 that was hauling a green John Deere tractor. The truck has an Arkansas license plate with the number 764UZM.

Local law enforcement as well as Arkansas State Police and agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi were alerted to Woodward's escape, Graves said. Dermott is in Chicot County in the state's southeast corner.

As of Wednesday morning, state police is the lead law enforcement agency helping the Department of Correction search for the escapee, Graves said in an email at 11 a.m.

Woodward arrived at the Delta lockup at 880 E. Gaines St. on April 6. He was sentenced to eight years after he was convicted of fleeing.

Police say that on Jan. 17, Woodward led them on a chase where troopers rammed his pickup, shot out a tire and approached the vehicle with a police dog.

Woodward is white, stands 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 226 pounds, according to the Department of Correction website. He has a cropped haircut and a graying beard, Graves said.

Woodward and his family are from North Carolina, Graves said.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

Upcoming Events