SPRINGFIELD -- The inmate who escaped Monday from a South Dakota minimum-security prison is back in custody after a 630-mile adventure and a tip to police from his father.
Jesse Oliver, 22, was apprehended without incident early Wednesday morning at a rest stop along Interstate 40 near Little Rock, Ark.
Around 12:30 a.m., Arkansas police responded to a call that a South Dakota fugitive had been spotted at a gas station/truck stop in North Little Rock, Ark., said Lt. Cody Burk, public information officer for the Pulaski Sheriff's Department in Little Rock. South Dakota officials differ in the time of apprehension, putting it at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday.
"Once officers arrived at the rest stop," Burk said, "Ricky Oliver, the fugitive's father, pointed to a 2001 Freightliner that the escapee was hiding in. Apparently, his father turned him in."
Burk said the Freightliner was reported stolen in Iowa.
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At 1:45 p.m. Monday, Oliver stole a five-ton 2007 International pumper truck and blew through two gates at the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield. A search began immediately, but neither Oliver nor the truck could be located.
Officers from South Dakota and Nebraska have since been on the lookout for Oliver.
According to a press release issued by the state on Wednesday, Michael Winder, communications and information manager for the Department of Corrections, said the pumper truck was located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, early Wednesday morning.
Its flatbed portion had been removed and was found near Randolph, Neb., which is 40 miles directly south of Yankton.
Arkansas will be holding Oliver on three prior outstanding misdemeanor warrants, and authorities there plan to file a felony stolen vehicle charge on him for the freightliner, said Burk. Oliver is a former Arkansas resident.
"After Oliver completes his conditions of the felony and warrant charges," said Burk, "he will then be extradited back to South Dakota. They can have him then."
Department of Corrections communications and information manager Michael Winder, said it would be up to the Bon Homme County Sheriff's Department and the Attorney General's Office to decide what charges Oliver will face in South Dakota.
Oliver was serving a four-year sentence for second-degree burglary in Minnehaha County when he escaped.
