Police: Prison Escapee Found In Tulsa With Ex-Stepdaughter-Turned-Girlfriend

Authorities captured an escapee from the Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center at Vinita in west Tulsa Wednesday night.

James Maxwell, 49, was reported missing from the center at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, prison officials said. 

Maxwell was arrested by members of the Northeastern Oklahoma Violent Crimes Task Force.

Officers told News On 6 that Maxwell had been staying with his ex-stepdaughter, 35-year-old Stephanie Starr,  with whom police say Maxwell is romantically involved, in an apartment at 12th Street and 101st East Avenue. Police say he was spotted at that complex, initially, and was later located again in west Tulsa.

Police were able to apprehend Maxwell and Starr during a traffic stop at 4300 South Gilcrease Expressway, around 5:45 Wednesday afternoon. Maxwell ran off from the traffic stop and was shot in the back with a bean bag, and then hurt his shoulder trying to climb over a fence, police say.

Maxwell was taken for medical treatment before he was booked into jail.

Maxwell was in prison on two convictions out of Tulsa County for possession of a controlled substance and assault and battery on a police officer.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections web site, Maxwell has been convicted of escaping before.