Escapees caught while breaking back into jail

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September 8, 2010

By Greg Grisolano news@joplinglobe.com The Joplin Globe Wed Sep 08, 2010, 08:49 PM CDT

PINEVILLE, Mo. — Escape artists? Maybe. Criminal masterminds? Not so much.

Two inmates at the McDonald County Jail were caught attempting to re-enter their cells after their escape from the same building only hours earlier, the sheriff said.

Sheriff Robert Evenson said Justin L. Forcum, 26, of Anderson, and Eric N. Bishop, 26, of Rogers, Ark., were on the lam from 11:30 p.m. Tuesday to 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, when they were nabbed by jail staff members as they made their way back to their cells.

“You hear about escapes from time to time, but you don’t hear about them trying to get back in jail,” Evenson said. “At this point, we’re just assuming that it was the threat or added charge of escape and the time that would go with it, that’s probably why they came back. I just don’t understand how they ever thought it wouldn’t be noticed.”

Charges of escape are pending against the inmates. Each man is currently awaiting trial on separate felony charges not related to the incident.

Evenson called the pair’s escapade a “comedy of errors” that may have included the alleged theft and torching of a car in Pineville.

Pineville police are investigating the car theft. They could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The sheriff said the preliminary investigation suggests that the men may have stolen the car not to make a getaway, but to start a fire near the jail as a means of creating a diversion so they could slip back in unnoticed.

Evenson said the two men were being housed with about 20 other inmates in a barracks-style section of the jail. They were able to break through the drywall of the jail ceiling and remove a layer of wire mesh to gain access to the attic. From there, Evenson said, the men made their way out by kicking through the exterior siding of the jail to the roof and climbing down a ladder to reach the ground.

“When this jail was built almost 20 years ago, it was built as inexpensively as possible,” Evenson said. “The mesh is secured by a nail or two. They were able to tear down that wire mesh from the corner, and then they were able to get up into the attic part of the jail.”

Evenson said members of the jail staff heard the men walking along the ceiling as they made their way back to their beds. The inmates were confronted in the cellblock by guards.

The sheriff said surveillance video clearly identifies the two men. He said no other inmates are believed to have participated in the escape.

“I think it was one of those things that seemed like a good idea to them at the time,” he said. “Maybe they thought if they came back they wouldn’t be charged with escape, but if that’s what they thought, they thought wrong.”

Contractors were at the jail on Wednesday repairing the damage from the escape and reinforcing the mesh with more security features to prevent future escape attempts.

Bound over

Eric Bishop, one of the two alleged escapees, was bound over for trial on burglary charges after a preliminary hearing Wednesday in McDonald County Circuit Court.

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Escapees caught while breaking back into jail

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