The Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Dobson, N.C. (AP) -- A Texas law officer didn’t believe two men would be riding in a minivan without a woman, so he stopped the vehicle and captured two of the six men who escaped from the Surry County Jail last week.
After their arrest, Randy Lee, 36, of Decatur, Ala., and Archie Dale Robertson, 36, of Mount Airy, led authorities to Rene Jeremias Fernandez, 22, of Sparta. He was standing on the front porch of a relative’s house in Tyler, Texas, and talking on the telephone when officers arrived.
Deputy Constable Mark Waters and Deputy John Smith of the Smith County Sheriff’s Office spotted the stolen green Dodge Caravan on Interstate 20 near Tyler late Thursday.
“Two men driving down the road by themselves in a minivan just doesn’t look right,” Waters said. “Usually a man in a minivan has his wife or family. Men will be in trucks. What are they doing driving mama’s minivan?”
His check of the vehicle’s license tag showed the Texas plate belonged not to the Dodge van but to a Hyundai automobile. The van was stolen after the jail break in Surry County.
Lee, Robertson and Fernandez have waived extradition, authorities said.
The arrests mean that four of the six inmates are back in custody. They were being held on a number of different felony and misdemeanor charges.
Matthew “Scooter” Shinault was caught Wednesday at an Arkansas gas station. A small-town police chief in Caddo Valley, Ark., noticed Shinault dart to his truck, only to have so much trouble with the stick shift. The escaped inmate stalled the motor several times.
The Surry County Sheriff’s Department would not comment Saturday about the search for the remaining two jail escapees -- Paul Vincent Callas, 37, and Timothy James Tate, 24, both of Mount Airy. Waters said the captured escapees told investigators that Callas and Tate had headed for Virginia.
The six men escaped early May 30 by using a blade from a fingernail clipper to cut a hole in the cellblock ceiling.
Waters said Robertson told him he regretted stealing the van from an acquaintance.
“He said he stole it from someone he goes to church with,” Waters said. “He was real remorseful. He said ‘I’d like to call that lady and tell her I’m real sorry about stealing that van.”’